Dead with the Vikings
by Thyra10
Summary: Sookie wakes up in a bed a 1000 years ago without knowing how she got there. The story takes place after chapter 1 in Dead in the Family. Spoilers for all books. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Dead with the Vikings**

**A/N:**

I do not own Eric or Sookie. I just brought Sookie to my where I live - to see Eric before he was turned. Eric and Sookie are the property of Charlaine Harris

This story may contain spoilers for all books and short stories in the SVM-series – including chapter 1 of Dead in the Family.

I have always been very intrigued by the Viking age, which is a central part of my heritage. I will do my best to have all facts correct and to avoid stupid mistakes like having the characters eat corn on the cob or giving them horns on their helmets. But I can unfortunately give no guaranties.

This story would be pretty silly if all conversation was written in old Norse so everything is "translated" into English. That includes the names Charlaine Harris has used in her books.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for correcting all my mistakes in yet another story. I could not have published anything without you – and I`m looking forward to showing you Oslo!!

Also thank you to **Peppermintyrose** for the great discussions on Eric`s character and what kind of person he was before he was turned – and to her husband for being a back-up on historical facts.

* * *

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 1**

"The babarians are coming."

I was pulled out of my sleep by sounds of commotion. I sat up in the bed. Someone had yelled and I heard doors being opened and closed. People were yelling and screaming and there was running.

I looked around and now fear really hit me. I wasn`t in the bedroom I had gone to sleep in last night. I wasn`t in my home in Bon Temps at all. I was somewhere else. Somewhere I had never been before.

The door to the room I was sleeping in was pulled open and a terrified girl peeked in. "The barbarians!" she cried out. "We have to flee. They are down by the beach."

She pointed to the window in my room. Only, it wasn`t really a window. It was a small hole in the stone wall.

I looked out and gasped. I did see some long and narrow boats pulling up on the beach and men pouring out of them, but what really made my heart skip a beat were the houses I could also see. They were more like huts and they looked like something out of a history book. When I looked back at the girl, she was gone.

I didn`t understand what was happening and started pinching my arm. It hurt the way pinching usually hurts and I figured I wasn`t dreaming.

I listened to the sounds and heard general panic. People were screaming in fear and it wasn`t until now I realized they weren`t speaking the usual Southern drawl of my hometown. This was something else. It bore resemblance to English, but it was something I had never heard before. The words were very different from what I was used to, but I still understood everything.

Everyone was fleeing. I could hear it in the building I was in and I could hear it outside. "To the forest," a loud male voice yelled. I tried to get up because it seemed like a wise thing to do, but I couldn`t. I was paralyzed. Not in the way some people in wheelchair are, but emotionally.

I had been through too much lately and being in a strange house, in a foreign village, being told that barbarians were coming, made my muscles immobile. I had always been a woman of action, but now my body wouldn`t listen.

I started hearing screams and metal against metal from the beach below. It sounded like fighting, but I couldn`t bring myself to look out again. I took a deep breath and hoped it would bring me back to my own bedroom again. A tear rolled down my cheek when that didn`t happen.

I pulled my knees up to my body and wrapped my arms around them. Why was this happening to me? Why was it happening now? I was starting to get my life back. My wounds were healing and I was in love with Eric. Amelia had left me, but I was starting to make a life on my own.

The fighting came closer and I started hearing rough male voices giving orders. I peeked out and instantly regretted it. Tall men wearing helmets were running towards the building I was in.

Inside the building, the voices and screaming were gone. Apparently everyone was wiser than me and had left. I was still sitting on my bed and more tears ran down my face.

"I can`t take any more," I whispered to myself and rocked back and forth.

I gasped when I heard men`s voices in the building. Doors were kicked in and there was scrambling of metal. I could hear them getting closer and I did nothing. I was a pig in a slaughterhouse, waiting for my destiny. After all I had been through, all the fights I had fought, I had now given up. I did not understand where I was, but I knew I was in danger. And still I did nothing.

I took a deep breath and felt something loosen inside me. I was suddenly given the strength to stand up and I walked out the door and started running down the hallway, away from the voices. It wasn`t until now I realized that I wasn`t wearing any shoes and only a rough dress on my body. For some reason, I didn`t even have any underwear on.

I was in a house made of stone and the floor was cold to my feet. I came to a huge wooden door and opened it carefully. It led to a small room, but at the other end of that room, an open door showed me the way out. I could see the forest people had apparently run to and decided to do the same.

Unfortunately I should have run the minute I was woken up. My panic had cost me valuable time and just as I set foot outside the door, three huge men in helmets came around the corner.

Soon they had me surrounded and I backed up and tried to go back inside, but then I heard voices from behind me too.

The men wore clothes taken out of a museum. Leather, linen and furs. And all of them wore helmets with protection for the eyes and nose area. They were all blond and I could see their blue eyes through the holes in the helmets. They were huge.

One of them was as tall as Eric and had the broad shoulders. I gasped. I would recognize that body anywhere.

"Eric?" I whispered, only it didn`t sound like `Eric` when it came out of my mouth. More like `Eirikur`. He stared at me and so did the other men. It WAS Eric. I smiled. "Oh, I`m so glad to see you!"

Everyone was quiet for a minute and then laughter broke out. Everyone apart from Eric, doubled over in roars and the guy next to him, hit his shoulder playfully.

"Your reputation precedes you, Eric," he laughed.

Eric stared at me and was the only one not laughing. I smiled at him, but then I realized what was wrong. He didn`t recognize me. My hand flew to my mouth.

"So Eric," one of the men said. "Are you going to share this little treat or do I have to fight you over her?"

He spoke the language I had only heard when Eric and I were in our more intimate moments. Or at least it sounded like that language. I had no problem understanding it this time, though, even if the language sounded different from the language spoken by the panicked people screaming and yelling just moments earlier.

Before I could see what was happening, the man was lying on his back in the dirt and Eric massaged the knuckles he had just used on him.

"She is mine." He growled.

* * *

**A/N:**  
I hope you liked this beginning. It was shorter than the chapters I usually write, but I hope to be able to publish shorter chapters fairly often on this story.

If I`m jumping up and down in joy right now, it`s because my story **Dust Bunnies and Christmas Presents** was selected to the finale in the Naughty and Nice fanfic contest. I have not been able to stop smiling since I heard.

There are a lot of great fanfics in that contest and I would recommend that you read them all and vote for one of them: www . fanfiction . net/u/2163083/Naughty_or_Nice_List#


	2. Chapter 2

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 2**

**A/N: **

I am amazed and thrilled at the reception the first chapter got. My mailbox was full of reviews, subscription notices and favorites and I just can`t stop smiling. Thank you so much!! I hope I can live up to your expectations!

Also thank you to **Rascalthemutant** who is a great beta and friend. I`m looking so much forward to seeing you in Oslo in April!

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

"_So Eric," one of the men said. "Are you going to share this little treat or do I have to fight you over her?"_

_He spoke the language I had only heard when Eric and I were in our more intimate moments. Or at least it sounded like that language. I had no problem understanding it this time, though, even if the language sounded different from the language spoken by the panicked people screaming and yelling just moments earlier._

_Before I could see what was happening, the man was lying on his back in the dirt and Eric massaged the knuckles he had just used on him. _

"_She is mine." He growled. _

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

I looked at Eric and at the guy rolling in the dirt. When my eyes moved back to Eric, I couldn`t stop laughing.

It`s insane to laugh, when you are alone against three huge men with helmets and swords. But then I probably was insane. I had finally snapped. Maybe this wasn`t real or maybe I just didn`t care. My brain was spinning and laughter was the only way I could deal with it.

They stared at me and I could only hope they had some cultural tradition about protecting crazy people. Some cultures did, as far as I knew, but then again, some cultures weeded out the weak by killing them.

I stopped laughing and looked back at Eric. He looked as he always did and then he didn`t. The first thing I noticed was his tan. His skin was as golden as mine and then some. He had roses in his cheeks. And his eyes…. His eyes were warmer somehow. More alive. Which was probably what they were. This was human Eric. My eyes widened at the realization.

Then it hit me. I could hear his thoughts. This time it wasn`t snakes in a snakepit like the glimpse I had just before revealing Long Shadow`s betrayal. I could hear them loud and clear as I could any human. And Eric`s thoughts were racing. He was wondering who I was.

"How do you know my name, woman?" he asked. It was comforting and scary to hear Eric, my Eric and yet not my Eric at all, use the language I had only heard in our most intimate moments.

I wasn`t sure how to answer his question. `_Because you and I are going to be lovers a 1000 years from now – or maybe in another dimension_`?

Somehow I could see that answer earning me a sword to my neck immediately.

"Because I know you, Eric." I gasped. I had spoken his language too. Well, wasn`t I the lucky one? I could speak a language I didn`t even know the name of.

Apparently the men were surprised too. "She speaks our tongue," the guy next to Eric yelled. Then he looked at me. "Who are you?"

"I`m Sookie Stackhouse," I answered, my Southern manners jumping forward. They looked at me waiting for me to continue. For some strange reason I knew what they wanted me to say so I said it. "Daughter of Corbin Stackhouse."

"Your name is not Nordic, yet you speak Norse. Your father is unknown to me and I have never laid eyes on you, yet you seem to know me." Eric stared at me. It was almost unbearable to have him look at me like a stranger and I suddenly felt a huge amount of sympathy for Pam when Eric was under the witches` curse. "Explain this," Eric asked.

"I can`t explain it," I answered truthfully.

Eric frowned and opened his mouth to speak again when a battle cry from inside the building startled me.

That woke up Eric`s two companions. "We are missing out on all the fighting and losing all the treasures," one of them said. "Kill this woman or bring her with you, but let us not miss out on the fun."

Eric looked at me again, as if he was trying to decide my fate. Then he grabbed me by my upper arm and started to pull me with him. He was going to leave a bruise, but I kept my mouth shut.

"I`m taking her down to the boats and will catch up with you again afterwards," he said to the men who started grinning.

"Eric never could resist a woman," one of them yelled and they both laughed hard.

X

When you have used shoes your whole life, walking bare-foot is rather painful. Rocks and gravel bit into my soles and I couldn`t help making little noises of discomfort.

"What`s the matter with you, woman?" Eric stopped and looked at me. "Are you hurt in some way?"

I shook my head. Eric then looked at my feet and before I could stop him, he had one of my ankles in his hand and lifted my foot up so fast, I almost tumbled over. He steadied me with an arm around my waist and looked under my foot.

"Your feet are soft. They are not used to being bare. Why aren`t you wearing something on them?" he enquired.

I looked at my dress and my feet. The last thing I remembered was putting on pajamas with pink bunnies and setting my slippers next to the bed. That was obviously a different bed than the one I woke up in and how I had changed bed and clothes, not to mention year in time, I didn`t know.

I huffed, trying not to dwell on my circumstances. "I don`t know, Eric."

He looked at me again, obviously searching his brain again for knowledge about how I could know his name. I could hear his thoughts going through every blond woman he had ever laid eyes on and that was quite a few.

He then shrugged and lifted me up on his shoulder, carrying me in a fireman`s hold.

I shrieked. "Put me down now, Eric."

"Shut up, woman," he huffed. "Your feet will bleed if you walk without shoes so I`ll carry you. You should be pleased I even bothered. I do not appreciate women screaming unless it`s from the pleasures I bring them in bed, so if you do it again, I`ll smack your fine, round ass."

I drew my breath and swallowed a yell. "You`ve never hit me, Eric. You wouldn`t do that."

He stopped. _`How can she know I don`t hit women?`, _his mind was asking. "You seem to know me and you are right. I do not take pleasure in hitting women as some do. I find it demeaning, not only for the woman, but also for myself. But I am doing you a favor, carrying you, so you should shut up."

And I did.

X

I tried to keep my head up to see where we were going and also to avoid being too close to Eric`s backside. It had always been my favorite part of his body, but somehow I didn`t think it wise to pinch him in the butt just now.

I could hear screams and yells, but mainly the sounds in the village consisted of things being knocked over and broken. Men were barking out orders and some were cheering and laughing.

Suddenly I froze. Eric walked by a dead body and then another one. Men were scattered around, bleeding and with frightening cuts to their bodies and heads. Some weren`t even dead, but lay there moaning. I gasped.

Eric turned his head slightly. "They could have fled, but they chose to fight. I love a good fight, but these were not very good with their swords. They should have gone hiding in the woods as the rest of them did." His voice was calm as if he was telling me about the meeting with his accountant. For some reason this bothered me more now that Eric was human. I suppose I had become used to vampires being casual around death.

In his mind I could see how he had personally brought the fate of two of the men, one of them not quite dead yet. I decided I had to block his thoughts.

"Eric, the guy you stabbed there isn`t dead yet." I pointed at the man. "You can`t leave him like that."

Eric dropped me down to my feet so fast I stumbled and fell. He hovered over me.

"How do you know it was my sword that made his wounds?"

I suppose this was when I realized that it wasn`t the Eric I loved or the Eric who loved me, I was looking at. It was a stranger who could kill me whenever he pleased. My brain had come to realize it, but my heart was so far behind on the updates.

I grabbed his arm for support to get up and it seemed to surprise him.

"You are not afraid of me?" he asked.

"Of course I`m not afraid of you, Eric," I answered even if it wasn`t entirely true. But if I could invite in vampire-Eric with a memory loss to my house in the middle of the night, I could certainly smile to a human Eric even if he had blood on his sword.

He was taken aback. Then he nodded. "This is good. I prefer women who are not afraid of me. They are so much better in bed."

I couldn`t help laughing. "This is the Eric I know. Of course, you would never take a woman who was afraid of you anyway."

"That too." He nodded and I was relieved. Even if my Eric did not rape women, I could not be sure Viking Eric wouldn`t. After all, weren`t Vikings infamous for pillage and rape?

"And now you will tell me how you know me." Eric lifted me awkwardly, draping his arm around my waist, pulling me close and using the difference in height so that my feet were above the ground when he walked.

We were getting closer to the ships and I could see a couple of men guarding them.

"I can`t tell you."

Eric stopped and looked at me. His face was so close to mine, I could smell his breath. It was surprisingly fresh. Vikings didn`t have Colgate, did they?

"This was not a question. You will tell me." He squeezed me tighter.

"I`m sorry Eric. I can`t tell you yet because you won`t believe me. I will tell you soon. As soon as I have found out why I am here in the first place."

He studied my face and I tapped into his brain again just to make sure I knew he wasn`t planning on torturing me. He wasn`t. He was going through options, wondering if I was a Valkyrie or maybe even Freja herself. I could also be a witch, but he doubted it since I had no tail. I knew his conclusion before he spoke it.

"You are coming home with me and soon you`ll tell me." Then he leaned down and sniffed me. Apparently sniffing wasn`t something Eric had started doing after he became a vampire. "It is a good thing you are not afraid of me. I`m looking forward to having you warm me at night."

He tied my hands and told the guards to look after me and then he was off with a battle cry.

* * *

**A/N:**

Just a word of explanation. How do I "know" Eric wouldn`t rape women? **Peppermintyrose** cleverly pointed out in one of her fics that Eric let Sookie take the sexual initiative when he was cursed (shower scene, everyone ;-D). His curse meant he was "himself" and not everything being a vampire had taught him to be. This would mean that human Eric didn`t rape women – even if he was a Viking.

Another thing: Sookie calls him "Viking". He wouldn`t do that himself, of course. Back in the Viking age you could go in Viking, but you couldn`t be a Viking. It was something you did, not something you were. It wasn`t until the 19th century and Scandinavian nationalists digging out heroes from the past, Viking became a noun.

Sorry for boring you with these details. I hope you liked this chapter. I`m off with a battle cry too!


	3. Chapter 3

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 3**

**A/N:**

I am sitting here with my jaw on my chest. 118 sweet, funny and wonderful reviews for the first two chapters and you all own a piece of my heart. Wow! Thank you so much.

I also want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for her great betaing. Without her – no story.

And thank you to **Peppermintyrose** for our great discussions on Eric and what he was like before Appius turned him.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

"_You are coming home with me and soon you`ll tell me." Then he leaned down and sniffed me. Apparently sniffing wasn`t something Eric had started doing after he became a vampire. "It is a good thing you are not afraid of me. I`m looking forward to having you warm me at night."_

_He tied my hands and told the guards to look after me and then he was off with a battle cry._

* * *

**Chapter 3**

I saw his tall body running up the hill and soon he was gone.

This was the first moment I had had to think and I couldn`t make heads or tails out of anything. I assumed I was back in time since Eric was here in full Viking gear, but I couldn`t be sure. Maybe I was in some parallel universe or maybe I was dead. I had no idea, but I knew my safest bet was to stay with Eric. It was not as safe as I would have wanted it to be since I only knew Eric a 1000 years from now, but it was better than being on my own.

The guards looking after me were drinking heavily and their laughter became louder and rawer. The images in their minds were not pretty so I sat absolutely still so as not to draw attention to myself.

Why was I here? What had happened last night to make me wake up in a strange bed in a foreign country? I had never heard of vampires being able to make people travel in time and weres certainly couldn`t. Unless there were other beings I`d never heard of, that left demons and fairies. And I had had no quarrels with any demons lately.

Fairies. Did this have a fairie signature? I had no idea because I had been told way too little about their lives and their abilities. But the thought made me shudder.

Fairies weren`t high on my fan list. I still had a slight limp to show for my last meeting with them. Not to mention nightmares and panic attacks.

Apparently my shudder made the guards notice me and one of them tumbled over. He crouched down and smiled at me, but it wasn`t a friendly smile. He smelled sweet. Almost like beer, but sweeter.

"What`s wrong, my little dove?" He let a finger trail my cheek.

"Leave her alone, Bjørn. She is Eric`s." One of the other guards yelled.

"There won`t be any less of her for Eric just because I have a little piece. He may even be pleased I broke her in for him, Ulv."

I rolled my eyes. They named their kids `bear` and `wolf` here? I couldn`t help snickering and Bjørn stared at me.

"What`s so funny?" he asked.

I stared back. For all the fear I had in my body from my fairy abduction, I felt fearless now. The good thing about having been in a really bad place is that almost anything seems less terrifying afterwards.

"You are," I answered. I could hear him thinking out all the ways he was going to make me stop laughing, but I couldn`t help myself smiling at him.

Now the other guard, the one called Ulv, came over.

"Come on, Bjørn. You know Eric. He`ll be pissed and you really don`t want a pissed Eric."

I didn`t know if it was my staring or the threat of Eric`s wrath, probably the latter, but Bjørn backed down and went back to sit with the other guards. He scowled at me from time to time and I did my best to ignore him.

I wasn`t sure how much time had passed. I wasn`t wearing my watch and I couldn`t read the sun. How was I to know when the sun rose and set in these parts of the world?

These parts of the world. That made me start thinking about where I was and took my mind off my aching body. I looked around again and started collecting facts. I was in a place where they spoke some kind of English. I was sitting on the beach next to what looked like Viking ships. Eric was a Viking before he was turned, or so everyone kept saying. I suddenly remembered that Eric had never confirmed the fact. But assuming he was a Viking when he was alive, and given the fact that I had just met him in a breathing and warm body, I knew I had been sent back in time. Back to the Viking age. Back to Eric and his people raiding what I assumed was a British village, judging from the language they spoke.

I gasped. I did not know how or why I had been sent a 1000 years back in time, but apparently I had. I started feeling nauseous. Normally I would have found a way to run or I would have fought, but how could I run from Eric? And how could I fight him?

A tear rolled down my cheek. It was just a couple of months ago Eric and I had started a real relationship, or as real a relationship as you can have with a vampire, and it wasn`t long ago I had known that I loved him. Really loved him. Not the infatuation I had with Bill, but real love.

Eric had never said he loved me, but I knew there were deep feelings there. We had found common ground and I had started to relax. Or as much as one can relax after the ordeal I had been through with the fairies.

And now this. Now I was thrown back into danger. This time danger could be the Viking with blood on his sword. Danger could be the man I loved.

Xx

My body started aching and took my mind off the whirlwind in my brain. I forced myself to think happy thoughts and they were all about Eric. The days he lived with me during the curse. How he came to me in my shower, but waited for me to take a sexual initiative. Our escapades in bed – and other places. I smiled. I really loved my vampire.

And now I had to start all over and get to know the Viking.

I heard the sound of a horn and saw men pouring down towards the beach. They were carrying what I assumed was loot and a couple of them had people tied up and walking behind them.

I tried to look for Eric, but I couldn`t spot him. In Louisiana a six foot four man with long, blond hair, stood out, but here he was one of many.

I got up to stand. Sitting down was not the way I wanted to meet a large group of bloodthirsty Vikings for the first time.

A couple of men stared at me when they came down to the beach, but started throwing their loot into the ships. They were discussing how pathetic this village had been. They were disappointed there hadn`t been any real fights and that the Valkyries had to fly home empty handed.

"I`m sure Eric could have taken them all out alone," one of them laughed.

"He almost did and the villagers peed their pants just at the sight of him," another one said and there was rough laughter.

Suddenly one of them saw me and came over. "And what do we have here?" He started touching my hair and let his hand trail down my cheek and neck. I knew where that hand was going and figured attack was the best defense and kicked his knee and shoved him in the chest. This made him fall to the ground. I would have loved to have kneed him where it really mattered, but he was too tall. A childhood with Jason had taught me that being kicked in the knee hurt a lot too and judging from his moans, this Viking agreed.

"What the hell?" the guy shouted and came up to stand again, this time leaning heavily on the leg I hadn`t kicked.

Ulv came over. "She is Eric`s." He pointed at me.

That made everyone laugh as if Ulv had told the world`s funniest joke. I tried to look strong and dangerous, which was almost impossible with a dozen huge Vikings standing around me. But I apparently succeeded.

"I`m looking forward to seeing Eric tame this wild cat," the guy I had kicked yelled and everyone laughed again.

"She`ll need no taming," a familiar voice growled. "She belongs to me and I prefer my women untamed and strong."

This brought general merriment to the crowd and when someone called for the rest to hurry as the tides were changing, I was soon forgotten in the commotion of things being loaded to the ships.

Forgotten by everyone but Eric. He came over to me with a glint to his eye. He untied my hands.

"Oh, how I love a fine woman after a great fight. Unfortunately the fight was boring, but there is definitely nothing wrong with the woman." He looked down at me with a broad smile on his lips. It was strange to see his teeth with no fangs popping out.

He pulled me close and bent down and kissed me deeply. I kissed him back and even if this Eric didn`t have a 1000 years of experience in kissing, there was nothing wrong with what I was getting. Eric let his hands trail down my back and I did the same to him. I couldn`t help smiling. Eric was warm and alive and not really Eric. But right now, I enjoyed holding him close to me.

"It seems Eric has tamed her already," a man yelled and there was raw laughter.

I blushed and pulled back from Eric. I had never been one for public shows of affections.

Xx

We were on board the boat and the tide brought us out to open sea where the sails were hoisted. Eric apparently had command of the ship we were on because he barked out orders left and right.

I sat down and when we were out in open sea, I felt pearls of sweat forming on my forehead. I had never been comfortable flying and going over an endless ocean in an ancient boat was definitely no better.

Suddenly Eric sat down next to me.

"Are you uncomfortable?" he asked.

I nodded slightly.

"You`ll be safe," he said with conviction and then he was off again.

The sun started to disappear in the ocean and everything was painted red. It was an amazing sight and I soon forgot my fear of sailing. When the night came, so did a cooler temperature and I started shivering. I crawled under a fur nearby and pulled it up to cover me. I had been sitting there for some time when Eric came back.

He looked down at me. "You need to sleep," he stated. He started taking off his belt which held his sword and a knife. He pulled out another fur and laid it on the wooden planks of the boat and pointed at it for me to lie there. I did and he lay down next to me.

He pulled me into his body, my back to his chest, and grabbed a woolen cover and a fur and pulled them over us. He said nothing and soon I was asleep.

Xx

A loud gasp woke me up. Eric sat up and his face was white. Not as white as he would be in a 1000 years from now, but still very pale. I looked around to see if there was anything around us that could account for his fear, but there wasn`t. People were asleep, apart from the ones steering the boat, and there was nothing in the waters apart from the other ships.

"What happened, Eric?" I whispered and tried to soothe him with my hand on his back.

He almost jumped and stared at me. I decided to take a peek into his brain and that made me gasp too. I saw Niall Brigant, my great-grandfather. I looked at Eric.

"Did someone come to you in your dream?" That made Eric`s eyes grow wide. He nodded.

"It was Odin," he whispered, his voice full of fear and awe.

"Odin?" I asked. I took another look at Eric`s thoughts and that was when I noticed that Niall only had one eye. Or at least appeared to have only one eye. "What did … Odin want?"

Eric looked at me as if I was a book he couldn`t read. "He said you were important. He told me to look after you." Eric pulled away from me. "Who are you? What are you?"

I took Eric`s hand and held it. I could feel how tense he was, but he didn`t pull away.

"Come here, Eric. Let`s go back to sleep." This time Eric was on his back and my head was on his chest. My hand made soothing moves on his stomach and soon he was back to sleep.

I was awake, though. Eric`s dream had given me an answer. Now I knew who had sent me back in time. Niall.

But I didn`t know why or how. And I didn`t know for how long.

* * *

**A/N:**

Did this chapter give you some answers or just more questions?

**Viking ships:** They were narrow and thus sailed pretty fast. But this also meant there wasn`t room for a whole lot on board and that the looting had to be limited to what they could carry. We have Viking ships in a museum here in Oslo, as they have a lot of other places in Scandinavia, and it`s really surprising to see how small they were. Especially considering how far they went. I know I wouldn`t want to go all the way to "Wineland" (North America) in one of those.

**Odin:** I had to laugh when I read this description of **Odin** in **Urban Dictionary**:

Badass Norse god dude. Has one eye because he sacrificed one to drink from the Well of Wisdom and know everything. Was impaled on his spear, Gugnir, for nine days, and was given the Futhark (Runes). He also has two ravens that sit on his shoulders and fly around looking at things and telling him about them.

Odin is also a complete and total hardass who was hung from a tree thousands of years before Jesus made it cool. He can outdrink anyone except Thor, and likes to get together with his Germanic doppelganger Wotan and play darts. Is cooler than Muhammed and Ganesh and all those people.

Odin can beat up your god.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dead with the Vikings – chapter 4**

**A/N:**  
I am so amazed with all the reviews this story is getting. It really warms my heart.

I know you didn`t get an alert for the last chapter and probably not for this one either. Fanfic is acting up again - grrr. I thought I would wait until fanfic had fixed the glitches before I posted this chapter, but with all those great reviews, I could hardly leave you hanging, could I?

Thank you again to **Rascalthemutant** at the **Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum** for reading this and checking up boat terms for me in English.

* * *

I know I said I would translate everything into English, but there are two terms I need to use untranslated:

**Frille**: Just as you wouldn`t translate Geisha, I can`t translate frille. A frille is a mistress, a common-law wife, a lover. She had rights and her children were acknowledged as of the man who fathered them. A frille was taken for love or affection whereas a wife was taken for politics and reason. The system with frille existed until sometime after Christianity came to Scandinavia, but the church fought it and won.

**Trell**: A slave. It could be someone local, but it was usually a foreigner taken during raids. A trell could buy himself/ herself free and they could work on the side if they had skills. A trell had all his or her hair cut off and a ring of iron around his/her neck. When they bought themselves free, the ring was removed. The term for a free trell was "frihals" (free-neck) which is actually the origin of the word "frelse" (salvation).

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_I took Eric`s hand and held it. I could feel how tense he was, but he didn`t pull away. _

"_Come here, Eric. Let`s go back to sleep." This time Eric was on his back and my head was on his chest. My hand made soothing moves on his stomach and soon he was back to sleep. _

_I was awake, though. Eric`s dream had given me an answer. Now I knew who had sent me back in time. Niall. _

_But I didn`t know why or how. And I didn`t know for how long. _

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The sun woke me up and I noticed Eric had slipped out from under me. He sat a few steps away, looking at me.

I smiled at him and got a weak smile back. He then got up and went to the other end of the ship where he worked on the ropes with some other men.

I was busy looking at Eric and never noticed someone coming up behind me until I had strong hands on my upper arms, lifting me up.

I was pushed over to stand with four other women who were all dressed in the same dress I was wearing. One of them was the girl who had tried to warn me the day before. Apparently running hadn`t helped her from being abducted.

She cried soundlessly, large tears flowing down her cheeks. I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but that just made her cry even harder. And she added sound to her cry when one of the men came over to her with a huge knife. He pulled her beautiful red hair up and started cutting it off, close to her scalp.

I was held by the guy who had picked me up and I figured there wasn`t much I could do for her anyway. It was hair. It would grow out.

Another man came with a huge iron ring and placed it around her neck and pulled her away.

The same thing happened to the next girl. She had all her hair cut off and an iron ring placed around her neck.

I realized that it would soon be my turn and drew a deep breath. I had always had long hair and it was an important part of me. But I figured I could live without it. Having your hair cut off was nothing to having your muscles and skin chewed off, as I had had just a few months before.

Just when I was being picked out, and my hair was being pulled up, I heard a yell.

"Stop." It was Eric and he came over to us with a mad look in his eyes. "She is not a trell," he shouted.

"They are all trell," the guy with the knife argued.

Eric pulled me over to him so hard, I`m sure half my hair was still in the hands of the hair-cutter. "She is my frille."

People gasped and one man spoke up. "You can`t make her your frille. You don`t know her. She has nothing to offer apart from her body and you can fuck her as a trell too."

The guy stopped speaking very abruptly and it was because he was lying on the deck, spitting out blood.

"Do not question me," Eric shouted into his face. He then got up and walked to me again. "This one is to be protected. And she will be my frille. Do I hear any disagreements?"

Apparently he didn`t.

Xxx

I got a lot of glares and stares after that incident, but it changed fast when the bright sun turned into grey sky and the waves grew higher. Eric was here and there and seemed like he knew exactly what to do. Everyone trusted him and followed his orders and I couldn`t help admiring the way he commanded the ship so easily.

Eric`s command of the ship made me feel safe, but it didn`t help the growing complaints from my stomach. It had eaten hard bread and salted meat and now the sea was making my stomach want to get rid of it. I had never been out in open sea before and my stomach didn`t appreciate it`s maiden voyage being on a small wooden ship in a stormy ocean.

I didn`t want to throw up. I thought it might embarrass Eric and make me the laughing stock among the tough sailors. I also didn`t want to hang over the side of the ship. The waves came up high and I was sure they would gladly take my whole body and not just my bowel contents.

So I lay down and took a couple of deep breaths. I tried frantically to think of something apart from the roaring waves and the wind making terrifying noises, but it was hard. My brain apparently decided to spare me the pain and just shut down my body and so I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of my Eric back home in Shreveport and all the great things we could be doing.

I must have moaned slightly because a snicker woke me up. I looked up in a pair of blue eyes I knew all too well and couldn`t help smiling. He was sitting next to me and smiled back. I knew Eric`s smile well enough to recognize a dirty grin when I saw one.

"You are an amazing woman," he said. "When heaven and earth are one and our ship is like a leaf in the stream, you just lie down and dream about my naked body."

I blushed from head to toe, because he had been absolutely right. Only not quite because even if he had the same body as the Eric I had declared my love to back home, he was a different guy. And yet not. It was all very confusing.

I decided to change the subject and drew a deep breath. The waters were calm again and night had fallen. The stars were up and I was amazed at the multitude of them. I looked down at the people on the ship.

"What will happen to those girls?" I pointed at the newly shaven women.

"Oh, that`s entirely up to their masters. I suppose they will be helping out in the fields or in the house." He looked out over the sea and then back at me again. "And probably in bed too. This is the life of the trell", he stated without any emotions.

We were quiet for a moment.

"And your plans for me are…" I trailed off. I really didn`t want to ask the question. Or maybe it was just the answer I was afraid of.

He grinned at me. "I have many plans for you." He then got serious. "First of all I`m going to keep you safe. If Odin tells me something in my dreams, then this is my command and I`m not going to question it even if I don`t know the reasons for it." He looked at me as if now was the time for me to reveal something. When I didn`t, he continued. "I will respect you as I hope you will respect me."

"What do you mean `respect you`?"

"You will honor me and my family the way we deserve to be. I realize that everything will be different for you, but you will be wise and clever the way it suits the frille of the son of a chieftain." He said the last with pride.

"And your family is?" I prompted.

"I am a lucky man to have two living parents, 2 brothers and 3 sisters and three children who are alive."

"And Aude?" I asked, completely forgetting I wasn`t supposed to know the name of Eric`s wife.

Eric narrowed his eyes. "You know Aude too?" he whispered, his voice breaking a little.

I could have slapped myself. "Yeah," I answered. It was really all I could say.

"Then you don`t know that Aude didn`t survive the birth of our last child." Eric`s voice was hollow. "She died this spring."

I took Eric`s hand. "I`m sorry, Eric."

"Yes. Thank you. She was a good wife. As good a wife as anyone could have. She was strong, not a silly girl."

I gasped because in a thousand years or so, Eric would also describe her like that.

"And your children?"

"They live with my mother now. But now that you are to live in my house, I hope to have them back home."

We both stared out over the ocean. I was still holding Eric`s hand and couldn`t get over how warm it was. Warm and strong.

Xx

I lost track of how many days and how many nights we were on the boat. Eric and his men worked hard and we all ate and drank well, considering we were on board a boat. We even managed to wash ourselves a little, though they rationed fresh water. I got a branch to chew on to clean my teeth and was surprised at its taste. It left a fresh taste in my mouth.

I got to talk to some of the girls I had been abducted with and they all seemed to have accepted their fate. "It is God`s will," they claimed. They were all nuns and apparently I had been woken up in a convent of sorts.

I told Eric about their claims and he smiled. "It is always so much easier to make trell out of the followers of White-Christ. They think everything happening to them is His will. They never question it."

"White-Christ?"

"Yes, the followers of the god on the cross. We let them keep their faith and that pleases them enough to want to work hard." He looked at me. "And which god do you follow? You were found in the house of White-Christ and yet you are under the protection of Odin."

"I hadn`t been in that house more than a couple of hours when you came, Eric." I said, not wanting to give him the full disclosure of rare visits to the Sunday sermon in Bon Temps.

Eric laughed. "Odin is a cunning one, hiding you in the house of his rival god."

I smiled back at Eric. "Yes, he is cunning," I said, wondering what Niall was up to.

Xxx

At night Eric held me close to him. He smelled differently than the Eric I knew and it was hard to get used to his body heat and his heartbeat. But there was great comfort in being close to the body I knew so well.

One night he started kissing me softly. I couldn`t help kissing him back and soon our hands did some quiet exploring of each other`s bodies. I was well aware of all the people close to us so I kept it on top of our clothes only.

Eric kissed my neck softly and then whispered in my ear. "I can`t wait to get you home to my own bed."

I blushed deeply suddenly contemplating if sleeping with Viking Eric would mean I cheated on my Eric back home. Technically they were the same person, but would my Eric think of it that way? Would I?

I answered non-committingly "Mmmm" and returned his kisses by licking his collarbone and trailing my tongue down to where his shirt started.

"Ah, Sookie," Eric answered and after some more kissing, we fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter.

* * *

**White-Christ **(Hvitakristr in Icelandic, Kvitekrist in Norwegian)

This is the explanation on the name from **The Viking Answer Lady Webpage** (a great website btw):

The term for "**White Christ**" came into currency among the heathen Icelanders at the time when pagan and Christian religions were in conflict with each other.

That the Christian god was called Hvítakristr/Kvitekrist was originally probably due to the fact that the newly baptized converts were obliged to wear white robes during the first week after the baptism.

The adjective hvítr/kvit when applied to Christ was not meant to describe his physical appearance. At one time in the development of Old Norse, the term was used of either sex to denote someone who was blonde and/or pale-complected.

However, by the Viking Age, the term hvítr/kvit had acquired a perjorative connotation. To call a man hvítr/kvit was to say that he was cowardly. A related phrase was to say, "your liver is white" meaning again, a coward... which is almost identical to modern English usage, "lily-livered" with the same meaning. (Modern usage also uses "yellow" in this sense.)

In stark contrast to the peace-loving Hvítakristr/Kvitekrist, who was considered by a pagan warrior culture to be effeminate or cowardly, the Vikings revered their manly, virile god Red Thórr, red not only for his red beard and flashing red eyes, but likewise for the blood that a warrior spills.


	5. Chapter 5

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 5**

**A/N:**

Now I`m going to repeat myself, but I just can`t get over the massive amount of reviews, subscriptions and favorites this story is getting. You have been so sweet and I`ll be sure to send you all a Viking Eric to cuddle with tonight!

Thank you very much to **Rascalthemutant** for looking this through, correcting it and giving it thumbs up. Also thank you to all you lovely ladies at the **Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum** for helping me on that one word that was driving me nuts. Thank you for all the fun and laughter too!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Eric kissed my neck softly and then whispered in my ear. "I can`t wait to get you home to my own bed."_

_I blushed deeply suddenly contemplating if sleeping with Viking Eric would mean I cheated on my Eric back home. Technically they were the same person, but would my Eric think of it that way? Would I?_

_I answered non-committingly "Mmmm" and returned his kisses by licking his collarbone and trailing my tongue down to where his shirt started. _

"_Ah, Sookie," Eric answered and after some more kissing, we fell asleep in each other's arms. _

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

The smell was different one morning and the men had a different bounce when they jumped around. I looked up and saw land far away. Rocky islands in the ocean and higher mountains behind them. It was dark green and sinister looking.

We sailed by the land all day and the mountains became smaller and the rocky islands flatter. I noticed houses with smoke coming out of the roofs on some of the islands and I could see what looked like cows in the fields.

It was a majestic land and I suddenly felt a sting of pain over my school days. If I hadn`t been a telepath, I might have been able to follow the geography lessons better and know where Eric was taking me.

I didn`t ask Eric because he would probably give me the current name of this country and I wasn`t sure it would help me much.

I figured we were somewhere in Scandinavia and decided to look at a map when I got home. If I got home. The sting of pain came back. I had no idea why I was here, but what was worse, I didn`t know how long I was going to stay.

Xxx

The ship started to turn and made its way between the little islands. Eric came over to me, grabbed me by my waist and pulled me close to him. We stood side by side, looking at the landscapes moving by the ship.

"This is my home, Sookie." He sounded proud.

"Have you missed it?"

He looked down at me. "Yes, I have. I cherish a good fight and love going in Viking, but it is always good to come home. Especially now that we can come home with no one dead or wounded and bringing great treasures." He squeezed me.

We went up a fjord and in the distance I could see houses and after a while I could also spot people. Suddenly Eric jumped over and grabbed a metal pot and banged it with a spoon. Someone else took up a horn and blew a deep sound and soon there was a deafening noise with screams and cries and things being banged.

At shore I could see the little people running back and forth and soon I could hear noise coming from them as well.

When we came closer, I could see men and women, old and young, children and adults all gathered on the beach, anxious, but smiling. Some apparently recognized friends or family members and waved and yelled. Others kept searching the boat for their loved ones.

Eric stood on the railing, holding on to the ropes of the sails and screamed his lungs out. When the boat came close to the shore, he jumped out and soon, most of the men followed him.

I watched Eric run to an elderly woman with three children, two boys and a girl by the look of them. He gave her a warm hug and lifted up the children one by one and kissed them. They were excited to see him again and the sight moved me immensely. I had never imagined seeing Eric with his children. Truth be told, the thought of Eric hugging children would have scared me stiff just a couple of weeks ago. Now I was touched and I had to swallow my emotions.

Then a woman came over to him and she spoke loudly.

"What did you bring home to me, Eric? Apart from this huge stick of pleasure?" She grabbed Eric`s crotch and I drew a sharp breath.

Eric stepped back and looked at the woman with cold eyes. She was taken by surprise and pulled her hand back. "You want what you can`t have, Ragnhild. You wanted to marry the chieftain`s son just to get ahead in this world. I screwed you a couple of times, but you were a lousy lay. Now get out of my sight and find some other poor sod to throw your body after. I am not fooled by your tricks."

The whole village got quiet during Eric`s speech and they looked back and forth between Eric and the woman called Ragnhild. No one scolded Eric and no one comforted Ragnhild. They were just watching quietly.

I felt for the woman even if I was appalled by the way she greeted Eric. How could Eric have sex with her and then turn on her like that in public? It was like seeing Shreveport-Eric and the fangbangers.

Then Eric turned around and looked at the villagers. "Do you want to see what treasures we have found beyond the great sea?" He knew his audience well because everyone jumped and yelled.

I tried to seek out Ragnhild in the crowd, to see how she was doing, but I couldn`t find her.

Eric jumped on board the ship again and came straight for me. He lifted me up and lowered me down to the beach. He held my hand and pulled me towards the crowd.

"I have found myself a fine woman and Odin himself has asked me to protect her," he declared and I couldn`t have been more embarrassed.

Suddenly I met a set of green eyes. Ragnhild was staring at me with hate.

xxxx

The beach was like an ant`s nest with people running back and forth, greeting each other, carrying goods from the ship or just laughing and dancing around.

Eric introduced me to his mother, who seemed like a gentle, proud and clever woman, and his three children, who looked at me with big blue eyes, not really understanding who I was. The oldest smiled tentatively and the two smaller ones hid behind their grandmother.

After having met what seemed like the whole village, Eric pulled me away from the beach and to the houses. At the end of the row of houses, Eric opened a door.

"This is my home," he said with pride and pulled me inside.

It was dark inside. A fireplace was burning and my eyes took a little adjusting before I could see a large room with a table and chairs by the fireplace and what looked like beds along the walls.

Eric pulled me close to him and his hands were all over my body while his tongue tried to taste everything I had eaten the last two weeks. He moaned and started to grind his hips into me. I recognized the Gracious Plenty that had given me so much pleasure, but I had to stop him.

I pushed at Eric`s chest while pulling back.

"You can not be serious? Are you planning on having sex now?" My voice was slightly high-pitched.

Eric looked like he had fallen down from the moon. "Yes, of course. I thought you longed for it as much as I did?"

I looked at him. I had no idea where to begin. Of course I wanted Eric. I had wanted Eric ever since that shower when he had lost his memory – and probably before that too. Eric was sex on a stick, but he was so much more too. Now I was offered the sex part and I missed the rest.

I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to know more about his life. So I took his hand and walked him over to the chairs and sat him down. Before I could sit on my own chair, he grabbed me and pulled me down on his lap. It wasn`t the best way to conduct a neutral conversation, but it would have to do.

I turned around slightly so I could look him in the eyes.

"Who was Ragnhild?"

Eric`s eyes widened and suddenly he started laughing. "Is that what worries you? Don`t be alarmed, my lover. Ragnhild is no part of my life."

"But she was?"

"Hardly. She wanted my body and my status. Not me," he said in a bitter tone. "She was a fool and she will be no threat to you."

"You slept with her and yet you dismiss her so easily?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from sounding accusing.

Eric looked at me. "You are concerned for her?" He was surprised.

I squirmed in his arms. "She was ridiculed in front of the whole village."

"Well, she brought this on herself." Eric`s jaw was tight. "Now can we leave Ragnhild and get down to more pleasurable business?"

I would have loved to get down to pleasurable business with Eric, but it was wrong. I was grasping after a good reason to stall the sex he apparently wanted us to have here and now. When I lifted my arm, I knew what reason I could use.

"Eric. We`ve just sailed the seven seas and I haven`t had a bath or changed my clothes since I can`t even remember when. I smell like a pig and would really like to clean myself up a bit first."

Eric started sniffing me. He sniffed my hair, which was probably pretty disgusting by now. I had borrowed a comb from Eric every morning on the ship, but my locks had been nowhere near shampoo or water for longer than I cared to think about.

Then he sniffed my neck. I got goosebumps all over and tried to pull away. No such luck. He started sniffing my chest and my shoulders, but when his nose moved down towards my armpits, I pulled his head up and looked him in the eyes.

"Trust me, Eric. I reek."

Eric smiled his trademark smile. "I think you smell perfect, Sookie." Then he got up so fast I almost fell down. "But washing is a great idea. Let`s go bathe."

I had subconsciously had an idea of a bathroom with a lock on the door, but this was the Viking age. If I wanted to wash up, I would have to accept that Eric the Viking would make sure all my body parts were clean.

xxxx

It wasn`t a bath tub and certainly not a shower, Eric offered me. He took me to a place where the river took a turn and made a nice little pond to swim in. The sun was painting the sky red behind the mountains and the water wasn`t as freezing as it looked.

Eric had brought clean clothes for himself and a clean dress for me. I didn`t ask whose dress it was, because I assumed it was Aude`s. Why else would Eric have a woman`s dress in his house?

Eric also brought a wooden box filled with a paste that smelled lovely from chestnut and something I couldn`t really decipher.

Eric laid the clean clothes on a huge rock and started to take off his footwear, which is the only word I had to describe the boots-like leather he was wearing on his feet, his shirt and his pants. I had seen my Eric naked plenty of times, but now it felt awkward.

I looked away and desperately wanted a tree to change behind. The only plants around the river were heather and they didn`t give much cover.

"Turn around, please," I asked Eric.

He laughed, but complied.

"You don`t have to be shy with me. Be proud of your body, Sookie. I`ve heard that women worshiping White-Christ are taught to be ashamed of what their god has given them, but you`re not one of them, so you shouldn`t be. Some of them even stay virgins to worship their god. It`s crazy. It`s a misuse of his great gifts and they should be punished instead of praised." He suddenly turned around. "You`re not a virgin, Sookie?"

I blushed from my toes to my hair roots, all of which Eric had a full view of since I was undressed, but not under water. I jumped out in the lake as fast as I could. It was deep, but the stream was slow where I was.

Eric jumped in too and came over to me. He grabbed my hips and pulled me closer to him. "Are you?" he asked again.

I looked him in the eyes with as much pride as I could muster. "No, Eric. I`m not a virgin." _`How could I be, I`ve already slept with you`, _I wanted to continue.

Eric`s smile widened. "Good. Good. I prefer my lovers not to be virgins. I am hmmm too large for some and that is highly inconvenient when it comes to virgins."

I couldn`t help smiling. I knew just how large Eric was.

* * *

**A/N:**

So now they are "home". I hope you liked this chapter too.

And now I don`t even have any obscure Viking facts to offer you. At least not any that would fit this chapter. Sorry!

I`ll be down by the lake, waiting for Eric!


	6. Chapter 6

**Dead with the Vikings – chapter 6**

**A/N:**

Again – thank you so much for the overwhelming response this story is getting! It makes my fingers work so much faster on the keyboard – and puts a huge smile on my face :-D

Today you`ll have a longer chapter than the earlier ones. Before you read, I need to warn you. There is a major spoiler from chapter 1 in Dead in the Family (as posted on Charlaine Harris`website) here. And if you want to slap me after you`ve read the chapter – well, I just continued what the great **Charlaine Harris** has started.

I want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for assuring me I don`t need police custody after this chapter and for weeding out my mistakes!

Also thank you to **Peppermintyrose** for finding the chestnut paste Eric and Sookie are using for soap and shampoo and for being such a great consultant on everything Eric and Sookie.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_I looked him in the eyes with as much pride as I could muster. "No, Eric. I`m not a virgin." `How could I be, I`ve already slept with you`, I wanted to continue. _

_Eric`s smile widened. "Good. Good. I prefer my lovers not to be virgins. I am hmmm too large for some and that is highly inconvenient when it comes to virgins."_

_I couldn`t help smiling. I knew just how large Eric was. _

* * *

**Chapter 6: **

Eric pulled me underwater and came up again pressing me close to him. It gave me a firsthand reminder of his size and my body remembered very well what kind of pleasures it had brought me.

He then let me go and went up to the shore and opened the wooden box. He took out some of the paste and closed the box again. He put some of it in my hair and gave me some in my hand. The rest he put in his own hair and started lathering it. I was surprised and very pleased to see they had what seemed like soap and I started scrubbing my arms and chest with it. I turned my back to Eric when I washed my breasts and armpits.

Suddenly I felt strong fingers in my hair. Eric lathered up the chestnut-paste and massaged my scalp. A moan escaped me and I leaned slightly back into his fingers.

When he was done, he pulled me underwater again, massaging my hair slightly to get the paste out of it. I felt thoroughly washed when I came up for air again.

"Are you clean now?" he asked with a wolfish grin.

I lifted my arm and mock-smelled myself, something I would never have done back home. I was certainly getting chummy with the locals. "Hmm, I think I smell slightly less of pig now."

My movement had Eric staring at my armpit. He grabbed my arm and lifted it a little more.

"You have no hair?" He asked.

I didn`t feel like telling him about waxing and shaving and was just happy I had chosen the former for my last armpit treatment. If I`d shaven, I would probably have had small bushes by now. Not that I was a vain person, but armpit hair just felt plain unsanitary.

"Where I come from we shave it," I explained.

Suddenly I had a hand on a far more intimate and also more hairy part of me. Eric smiled.

"I`m glad you still have hair here."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I aim to please," I said with sarcasm in my voice. I was not really comfortable discussing my shaving habits with Eric. Especially not considering where his hand was situated. Apparently he wanted to check the whole area for hair and I couldn`t help moving with his fingers.

Footsteps warned us that we were not alone.

"Do I get her if you die?" a young voice suddenly laughed behind us.

My hands flew up to cover my breasts, but Eric only laughed.

"I`ll live forever with this woman in my arms," Eric declared. Then he turned to me. "This is Egil, my obnoxious little brother. Egil, this is Sookie."

Egil looked like a younger copy of Eric and I estimated him to be around 16 or 17. I tried to smile at him, but felt highly uncomfortable being introduced to Eric`s little brother while naked. Eric apparently had no such qualms and Egil looked as if he saw naked people all the time. Which was probably what he did.

"Hi Sookie." He smiled at me then he looked at back at Eric. "As much as it pains me to ruin your little love fest here, I have to ask you to come down to the village now. The party has begun and you are the honored guest, Eric. You were in command of a successful raid and everyone is waiting for you."

Eric jumped out of the river and I got a perfect view of his beautiful backside. Egil laughed when he saw where I was staring and walked away from us, giggling so loud we could hear him for a long time.

"Come on, Sookie. We mustn`t be late for the party. There will be singing and dancing and plenty of mead!"

He actually respected my need for some privacy and turned his back to me when I got out of the water. Of course just when I was about to pull the dress over my head and had my naked body stretched out, he turned around and grinned. I was a little self conscious about my scars, but it seemed Eric had his eyes elsewhere.

"I`m looking forward to our private little after-party, Sookie".

Xxx

We went back to Eric`s place to drop off the dirty clothes and to comb our hair. Eric roamed around in a trunk for some minutes before he came back to me and asked me to close my eyes. I complied and felt something on my chest and afterwards it seemed as if he put a belt on me.

"Open up," he said in an excited voice.

I opened my eyes and looked down. He had put a huge silver brooch and a leather belt with a large silver buckle on me.

"They are beautiful," I said after having looked at them and touched them. And they really were.

"They are yours. They show your status and no one will question your importance when you wear them."

I remembered how my Eric had told me he buried Aude with her finest brooch and felt honored that Eric also wanted me to wear one. I was still not sure what my new title of `frille` entailed so I figured the brooch could only be a good thing.

Xxx

When we came into the large house where the party was taking place, everyone yelled "ERIC". We sat down at the long table and soon we had meat on our plates and mead in our cups. I looked at the ones serving us and they were all bald and wearing rings around their necks.

I looked down on the table and only found a knife next to my wooden plate. Discreetly I checked out how everyone else was eating and it was knife and fingers instead of knife and fork. Gran was doing some high speed grave spinning when I grabbed the meat, but when in Rome. Or wherever I was.

The mead tasted great and I drank more than I usually do. The trell kept filling my cup, and the cups of everyone else, it seemed. The room was filled with laughter and there was singing and epics being recited. Eric`s mother, his brother Egil and his children looked like they had a great time. Then it hit me.

"Which one is your father, Eric?" I whispered.

"He is at the Ting."

"The Ting?"

"Yes, where the chieftains meet and dicuss things. He`ll be home in a couple of days and I can`t wait to introduce you to him. He`ll be very envious."

Eric bent over and kissed me deeply. The juices from the meat mixed on our lips and the mead was making me kiss him back with a little more passion.

It was obvious that everyone was getting drunk and Eric and I weren`t the only ones kissing. Some were groping and there were even some clothes being taken off.

I was getting hot and felt the sudden need for fresh air. I, very reluctantly, pushed Eric back.

"I have to go out for a little bit, Eric."

He kissed the tip of my nose. "We have all night," he whispered.

I got up and took a few seconds to find my balance. Eric snickered, but I was willing to bet his balance was just as poor.

I walked towards the door, trying to avoid people dancing and jumping to my left and right. When I was finally outside, the air was fresh and cold. I sniffed it a few times with my eyes shut when I suddenly had the feeling I was being watched. I looked around and when I couldn`t see anyone, I listened for brainwaves outside. As far as I knew, everyone was inside celebrating.

My drunkenness was probably to blame for my telepathy being a bit slow in the uptake, but after a while I got the distinct signature of someone in the forest. I turned in that direction and listened for thoughts. Only, the signature didn`t have any thoughts. It was a void.

Suddenly thoughts came crashing into me from behind. _"There she is that man-stealing bitch!"_

I gasped and managed to jump to the side just as the knife came slashing. Ragnhild gave a loud scream of frustration and I did my best to avoid the knife she was stabbing holes in the air with.

Just as I managed to kick her in the hips, I saw Eric jumping forward behind Ragnhild, trying to grab her knife.

"Fuck!" he yelled and I saw a stream of blood running down his arm.

I gave Ragnhild a kick to knock her over and an extra one for good measure. Soon most of the villagers were outside, holding her down, grabbing her knife or just staring at the spectacle.

"Are you all right, Sookie?" Eric asked me. I nodded. Then Eric turned to the people who had poured outside. "Ragnhild drew blood on me. I am calling for her to be tried and convicted for it. As soon as my father is back, I call for the council to gather and give her the punishment she deserves."

Ragnhild started crying, but the other villagers just looked at her with contempt. She was let loose and she ran off. It seemed people couldn`t really decide whether to laugh at her or shout obscenities. So they did both.

I walked closer to Eric, worried about his wound. I grabbed his arm and looked at it as best I could in the darkness. It didn`t look too bad, but I would still prefer to have it washed properly.

"Eric, we need to tend to this," I told him.

"Oh, we need to tend to a lot of things," he smiled and tried to kiss me. Fighting and blood apparently made him very amorous much like his later vampire self.

I swatted his good arm. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, let`s make sure your arm isn`t infected first. Can I boil some water?"

It was obvious Eric didn`t understand why I asked for boiled water, but he shouted for a trell and commanded her to bring us a bowl of boiling water. "And some clean cloths," I added.

Soon I was sitting at the table in Eric`s home, washing his arm gently and trying to assess the damages. It looked like a deep cut, but not deep enough to have done any real damage. "You should have this sewn," I said.

Eric raised his voice. "I am not going to have one stitch on account of that woman." He huffed.

I smiled at him. "Are you afraid of needles?" I teased.

He laughed. "I am afraid of nothing."

"Nothing?" I asked. I was still a bit tipsy, which would account for my line of questioning.

He shook his head. I put dressing on his wound.

"Not even of being close to a woman who knew your name before you had even met her?" I whispered into his ear when his arm was all done. Eric`s eyes widened.

I couldn`t help smiling. Gone were all my worries about my Eric and Viking Eric. The two Erics had melted into one and the same person somewhere during the party – possibly after my fourth glass of mead. Even if this Eric was warmer and with less pointy teeth, he shared body, voice, facial expressions and charm with the Eric I had come to love.

I had come a long way with my Eric. Fear, skepticism, respect, lust, acceptance, love. Not necessarily in that order. Now the Eric I had before me was harvesting what my Eric had sown. I couldn`t help being turned on by him. I wanted him.

"Definitely not being close to you," Eric answered and pulled me over so I was straddling him on his lap. And I was suddenly very close to him.

He looked me in the eyes as if trying to read something out of them. "You will tell me everything when you are ready, Sookie." Then he gave me a chaste kiss on my lips. The kiss slowly grew deeper and deeper. We were tasting each other, feeling each other.

I pulled back and looked at him. Could I go through with this? Could I make love to this Eric?

Before I got to answer my own question, Eric had removed my belt and started to pull my dress up. I got up to make it easier for him. And since bras and panties weren`t a part of my current attire, I was soon naked in front of him.

He was still sitting down, his eyes taking in every inch of me and his hands on my hips. They made small circular movements and when they met my scars, they lingered a little bit and moved on.

He made some sounds of appreciation and I started tugging at his shirt. Soon he was also standing and I was trying to figure out the belt buckle he was wearing. Eric snickered and helped me out and some very slow minutes later, I was not the only one naked in the room.

We stood in the middle of the room, the light from the fireplace glowing on our bodies. I couldn`t take my eyes from Eric`s chest, his arms, his…. My hands made the same trail my eyes had just traveled and it was a strange feeling to have something so well-known in my hands and yet it was all warm and new.

Eric moaned loudly when my hand cupped him. I kissed his nipple and then I bit slightly, as my Eric used to like it. Eric`s moans turned into groans.

His hands made their own little expedition and soon one of them paid a visit between my legs. I froze slightly. Eric and I had had plenty of sex after the whole fairy nightmare, but I had yet to have received an orgasm. I knew it was a matter of getting back in the saddle and things would work out for me in the end. I mean, I had had some of the most mind-blowing orgasms with Eric so there was no reason I wouldn`t have them again. They had just refrained from showing up lately. Probably because I just couldn`t relax enough to really enjoy whatever was coming.

This was the feeling I had now. I knew my Eric could do wonders with his fingers and I suspected Viking Eric had the same magic touch. But my body wouldn`t let me feel it.

"Relax," Eric whispered in my ear. I sighed. Not at him, but in frustration over my own uncooperative body.

"Which bed is yours?" I asked instead. I really enjoyed sex even if I couldn`t have an orgasm and I wanted Eric inside me now. And I didn`t want to do it standing up.

Eric growled and pulled me over to one of the beds alongside the wall. It was a wooden box with what I assumed was hay or straw covered with some cloths in linen and wool with a few furs on top. I got down and was surprised with how soft it was. It took some adjusting to feel the straw through the linen, but it wasn`t bad.

Eric got down next to me and for a couple of minutes we just stared at each other.

Then Eric started kissing my neck and my ear. He worked his way down to my breast and my stomach. When he was going further down, I pulled his head up again, wanting to kiss him myself.

We kissed deeply and passionately. I started tugging at Eric, wanting him over me, inside me. He complied and soon he was between my legs. My calves were on his back when he positioned himself and slowly pushed himself in.

I gave his butt a little push with my foot to tell him `slowly` wasn`t necessary and he understood what I was saying. In one strong push he was inside. I moaned loudly and Eric joined the choir with a growl.

"This is perfect, Sookie," Eric whispered. "I want to be inside you always."

He started moving and I moved with him. It was so beautiful and I wasn`t unnerved by his warm body or the sweat he was starting to build. The sweat we both were starting to build. We were grunting and moving and it felt so very good.

Eric came up on his knees and lifted my hips up to him and held them with one hand. The other hand snaked its way to where I was already receiving so much pleasure. His thumb did wonders and I could feel the passion inside me building. Unfortunately, I could also feel the door to an orgasm being closed and locked. I sighed in frustration. I was having such a perfect time. Eric was a great lover even in his human state. Was it too much to ask that I could at least have the door ajar so I could sneak in?

Eric was pumping harder and harder and his breathing became more and more rapid and I could see him struggle against his own orgasm. I pulled him down to me, thus forcing the hand between us away. I ground my hips faster into him and whispered "It`s ok, Eric." With that he came loudly and his whole body trembled.

I felt great. Yes, I missed the orgasm, but being close to Eric, enjoying all the steps on the orgasm-ladder except the last one, seeing him enjoy himself, it was all good. I wouldn`t miss this for the world.

I suddenly noticed Eric`s face. It was not the face of bliss, but of torment. I pulled him down on me, close to me and he moaned at my acceptance of him. Then he lifted his head up and looked at me.

"I`m so sorry, Sookie."

I looked at him in wonder. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Yes, I do. I talk to you about respect and then I take my pleasure in you without giving you any. Only brutes do that." His voice broke.

I cupped his face in my hands. "Eric, look at me." And he did. "This is not your fault. You were perfect. It`s me. It`s something I`ve been through recently and I can`t shake it off me. I can`t relax enough."

His hand trailed down to the scars, the hideous scars. "Does it have anything to do with these?"

I swallowed and a tear escaped my eye. "Yeah," I answered in a thick voice.

"Were you attacked by animals?" he asked. His voice was soft, not really demanding an answer, but giving me an opening to talk.

I sighed. "Monsters," was all I could answer. I could hardly give him the whole explanation of fairy wars and how I had been caught in the middle.

Eric nodded. "I thought as much." He gave me a kiss. "I will protect you and make you feel safe and maybe you will be able to relax in time." He looked at me. "I will not force myself on you, you know that. Making love should be between two willing partners who enjoy each other."

"Eric. I enjoyed this. I really did. And I don`t want those monsters to win. Sooner or later I will be able to go all the way and I want to keep trying until that happens. I hope for sooner, but I can live with later too. Making love to you is good either way."

That earned me a huge smile. "So I will make it my task to make you relax and one day you will reap the fruits of it," he said with confidence. "And I will too."

I loved his confidence. It crept inside me, warmed me and started growing and soon I felt pretty confident myself.

* * *

**A/N:**

I`ll be hiding in Eric`s bed waiting for your reactions on Sookie not being allowed an orgasm. *Points at Charlaine Harris* - It`s her fault.

To be honest – I thought it was heartbreaking, but also very well done that Charlaine Harris showed us that what happened to Sookie in Book 9 came with a price. I`m sure Eric will help her get past it!

* * *

Contrary to common belief, the Vikings held a pretty high standard in personal hygiene. Again I quote the lovely **Viking Answer Lady Webpage**:

**Personal Grooming in the Viking Age**

Although the popular image of the people of the Viking Age is one of wild-haired, dirty savages, this is a false perception. In reality, the Vikings took care with their personal grooming, bathing, and hairstyling.

Perhaps the most telling comment comes from the pen of English cleric John of Wallingford, prior of St. Fridswides, who complained bitterly that the Viking Age men of the Danelaw combed their hair, took a bath on Saturday, and changed their woolen garments frequently, and that they performed these un-Christian and heathen acts in an attempt to seduce high-born English women:

_It is reported in the chronicle attributed to John of Wallingford that the Danes, thanks to their habit of combing their hair every day, of bathing every Saturday and regularly changing their clothes, were able to undermine the virtue of married women and even seduce the daughters of nobles to be their mistresses. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 7**

**A/N:**

No complaints about Sookie`s missing orgasm - I`m so glad. And I`m thrilled with all your comments. You really have me laughing and thinking – and that can never be a bad thing.

Thank you very much to **Rascalthemutant** for reading this and correcting the same mistakes again and again. You can apparently not teach an old dog new tricks. Sorry, Rascal!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_"Eric. I enjoyed this. I really did. And I don`t want those monsters to win. Sooner or later I will be able to go all the way and I want to keep trying until that happens. I hope for sooner, but I can live with later too. Making love to you is good either way."_

_That earned me a huge smile. "So I will make it my task to make you relax and one day you will reap the fruits of it," he said with confidence. "And I will too."_

_I loved his confidence. It crept inside me, warmed me and started growing and soon I felt pretty confident myself. _

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

I woke up the next morning really craving coffee and cursing the fact that the magical coffee plants were still in South America somewhere undiscovered by Europeans. My head hurt slightly and my body ached in the good way it always did after a night with Eric.

"She`s awake now," a female voice said. I looked up and stared into the face of Eric`s mother. I blushed and pulled the furs and cloth up to my chin. Being naked is not what you want to be when your lover`s mother comes by. And to make matters worse, Eric`s children were there as well. But no Eric.

I had four pairs of eyes on me. "Aren`t you going to get up?" The eldest boy, Hrafn, asked me. His hair was as dark as Eric`s was blond and I figured this was why he was named Raven. I tried to smile at him, not wanting to reveal my predicament.

Suddenly the door opened and Eric came in. He looked at the four people staring at me in bed and laughed.

"Turn your back to her," he said between laughs. "She has some issues about nudity and can`t get up when you are staring at her."

Eric`s mother looked at Eric. "I can`t see the woman my son has chosen?" she asked as if she had been denied looking at Eric`s firstborn.

"Give her some space, mother," he answered and his mother walked out of the room, shaking her head and with the kids in tow.

"The day is already old, Lover. Come and enjoy it with me." He smiled and I couldn`t help smiling back.

He didn`t offer to turn his back and I didn`t ask him to. After all, he had seen everything already. But I probably set a new record in getting dressed. I almost ripped the dress. Eric laughed again.

"You have no reason to be ashamed of your body, Sookie."

Xxx

After breakfast I started getting nervous. I hadn`t done anything here yet and now was the time for me to find a chore and not be completely useless. I looked around. I was a good cook, but cooking over open fire and using roots and fruits I had never seen before seemed a bit out of my league. I always kept my house clean and proper, but there wasn`t really that much to clean here. Maybe I could wash clothes? Then again, I had no idea if this was a job for the trell or one I could pitch in on.

I felt idle with all the others walking back and forth, having their day cut out for them. So when Hrafn declared he was going to go check on the traps, I asked if I could join him. I purposely didn`t ask if I could help him because boys that age usually wanted to manage all by themselves. Apparently I was right because Hrafn welcomed me and I received a big smile from Eric. Even Eric`s mother nodded in appreciation. Now if that wasn`t killing three birds with one stone.

Eric gave me a small knife to hang on my belt. "For the hares," he said and I swallowed. I wasn`t that keen on killing little furry animals with my hands, but I never said anything.

Hrafn and I walked towards the forest and soon we got to talk. Actually he talked and I pretty much listened, smiled and laughed. He was a fountain of stories and he enjoyed having someone to share them with. In the forest, Hrafn knew just where to look for traps. The first one was empty, but the second one had a hare in it. Hrafn was faster than me, and I wasn`t fighting him to get there first. He took out his knife and gave the animal a fast slice with it, ending its misery.

We were on our way to the third trap when I felt the presence of a supe. Or not really the presence, but some magic in the air that told me things weren`t exactly the way they were supposed to be. Even Hrafn felt it and looked at me.

"Run home as fast as you can!" I shouted at him.

He stood still. "No, I am a man. I fight." He held out his knife in front of him.

The Northam gene was apparently strong in Hrafn, but now was not the time to be brave.

"You will do as I say. Run home, get your father, but don`t tell anyone else. There is danger on its way and I don`t want half the village killed because you told people to help me. Your father is strong. He`ll be enough."

I didn`t want Eric there either, but I figured it was the only way to get Hrafn out of the way. And it would take Eric a good ten minutes, if not more, to come to my rescue. If that was what I needed.

Hrafn ran as fast as he could and I grabbed my knife. I knew it couldn`t be vampire because the sun was up and it didn`t sound like were. I didn`t think it was witches or demons and that left only the creatures I had come to hate and fear. Fairies.

My hair stood up on my neck when something came closer and closer. I held the knife so hard, my fingers hurt. Suddenly there was a whuush in the air and a familiar fairy stood before me.

"Claude!" I shouted.

He looked a little dizzy, but since appearances were important to him, he stood upright and let a hand roam through his hair.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Claude?" I shouted. His eyes widened at my choice of words. "And what the fuck am I doing here?"

"Sookie," he tried a smile, but Claude had never been one to smile very much. "I was sent here to answer that exact question." He thought a little. "Well, the last one, but I suppose I just answered the first one too." He looked pleased with himself.

"You`ve been sent to tell me what I`m doing here?" I couldn`t help shouting.

"Yes, Sookie." He talked to me like I was a bit slow. "Niall sent me."

"So what am I doing here?"

I heard movement behind me and saw Eric come running with his sword in his hand. He looked like murder and I held up my arms.

"It`s OK, Eric. I know him. He`s … family," I said in the calmest voice I could muster at that moment. Eric lowered his sword slightly and looked from me to Claude.

"Who is he?" he asked me. Then he looked at Claude. "Who are you?"

Claude shook his head. "I don`t understand Norse."

I stared at him and realized that we had spoken English. "But I speak Norse?" I asked.

Claude nodded. "Niall made sure you could make it here whereas I was only sent to speak to you, not any of the locals."

"Is he Loki, Sookie?" Eric asked. I smiled slightly. Yes, Claude could definitely be mistaken for Loki.

"No, Eric. He isn`t Loki. He isn`t dangerous, but he has come to give me a message."

I looked back at Claude. "So why did Niall send me here – and without warning?"

"He was looking out for you. He couldn`t come to you himself to protect you so he figured a way to get you out of danger and have a trustworthy person look out for you." Claude looked at Eric standing with his sword. "And it looks as if he managed that just fine."

"What danger?" My voice went one octave higher and out of my eye I could see Eric grab his sword a little tighter.

"Fairies who are bitter or who disagree. Mean fairies. Fairies you don`t want to meet. Who cares who they are, Sookie? They are dangerous and Niall sent you to a place they couldn`t reach you. Don`t ask so many questions." Claude rolled his eyes and I got the distinct feeling he had been sent to me against his will. Claude would have preferred lying in bed with a hot guy instead of helping out his human cousin.

"But if you can come here, so can they?" Sweat started forming on my forehead. "And why did he come in Eric`s dream and not mine?"

Claude thought a little. "No, I actually think only Niall can send people here and he couldn`t even send himself. I`m not entirely sure, though. And whose dreams Niall visits is his business, not mine."

"Well, thank you very much," I said with a thick layer of sarcasm. "So how long am I here?"

"Niall said a couple of weeks. He wasn`t sure, but as soon as things have died down back home, he`ll send for you."

I was quiet some seconds. There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but now they were all gone. Then Claude seemed to remember something.

"Niall told me to tell you that you can`t change anything in the course of history." He was pleased with himself.

"What do you mean, I can`t change anything? I`m changing things just by being here. When I come back Eric will have met me before he met me in Fangtasia and that`s a huge change."

Eric came over to me when he heard his name mentioned. He didn`t say anything, but he was reminding us of his presence.

Claude thought a little. "No, what I thought he meant was that when you leave this place, you will be forgotten. Everything will run its course. You can`t change anything and you won`t change anything."

"Really?" I was slightly relieved that I couldn`t change the turn of history. What if I changed it so that I wouldn`t meet Eric a thousand years from now? Then it hit me. If Eric was to meet me that night in Fangtasia when I came in with Bill, then he would have to be turned. He would have to go through rapes and torment with Appius. How could I want him to go through a thousand years with wars and pain just because I wanted him with me for some cozy nights in Bon Temps?

"So Eric has to become a vampire?" I asked, my voice trembling.

Claude looked at me and then at Eric. Claude was not the kind of guy who would pity anyone or feel sorry for them. So his face was neutral when he answered. "Yes, he does."

"No," I whispered.

Claude was getting uncomfortable. "Look Sookie. I really have to go now." And with that, he was gone. Eric gasped behind me. Seeing people disappear into thin air was not an everyday occurrence for a Viking.

I fell to my knees. I knew I should have asked him more questions about who was after me and if my family and friends knew I was safe. But all I could think of was how Eric, my warm and alive Eric, would soon be taken by Appius and have to go through years of what broke me down after just a few hours.

Tears poured out my eyes and I didn`t even notice that Eric was down on his knees with me, holding me, comforting me.

"What happened, Sookie?" he whispered.

I just shook my head and buried it in Eric`s chest. I kept shaking my head until Eric cupped it and kissed my hair while making comforting sounds into it.

* * *

**A/N:**  
In the books Claude is obnoxious and self-centered and doesn`t care two bits about Sookie. I thought I would keep him in the same spirit.

A lot of you have wondered what Niall wanted. What do you think of this turn of events?

**Edited later:** I hope there are no technical problems with this chapter. Fanfic wouldn`t let me post so I had to reuse an old chapter from my other fic Dead withoug a Work Permit. If you experience glitches of some kind - please let me know!

**And why would Eric think Claude is Loki?** Loki is a very handsome trickster in the Nordic mythology. He causes many problems, but also laughter and merriment for the gods. The Nordic gods were far from perfect and this applied to Loki to a very high degree, causing death and in the end Ragnarokk (the end of the world) with his tricks. So when Eric sees a handsome guy who makes Sookie cry – who else than Loki could it be?


	8. Chapter 8

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 8**

**A/N:**

I just love all your comments and questions. They are so great to read :-D

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for being such a great beta. And thank you to **Peppermintyrose** for reminding me of exactly how many vampires Sookie has fought. Not few, definitely not few!

I didn`t post any chapters yesterday so here is a longer one. I hope you like it!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Tears poured out my eyes and I didn`t even notice that Eric was down on his knees with me, holding me, comforting me. _

"_What happened, Sookie?" he whispered. _

_I just shook my head and buried it in Eric`s chest. I kept shaking my head until Eric cupped it and kissed my hair while making comforting sounds into it. _

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

Eric pulled back and looked at me. He studied every feature and every movement of my face. I couldn`t talk to him. I didn`t know what to say.

"Is it very bad?" he asked.

I nodded.

"How can I protect you?" He subconsciously pulled his sword closer to him.

"Oh," was all I could answer. I wasn`t the one who needed protection. He was. And he wasn`t going to get it.

"Is it the same monster that bit you?" he asked.

I looked at him. "There is more than one kind of monster. The monsters that bit me are dead, but there are others."

Eric smiled. "So I will kill them just as the one that bit you was killed. I just need to know how."

I sighed. How could I tell him without revealing who I really was? And what would happen if I claimed to be from the future? Nothing good, I was pretty sure.

"The monsters are cruel creatures. Some of them only come out at night and they drink the blood of people. The ones that bit me also come out at daytime, but…" I pointed to where Claude had been standing. "I was assured that they would not come here."

"So the bloodsuckers are the ones we need to slay."

"No, Eric. We can not kill them." This was not entirely true. I had personally killed Lorena. "They are too strong. We need to protect ourselves against them. They can`t come out in the sun and they can`t come into people`s homes without invitation. So if we stay indoors whenever the sun is down, we should be pretty safe." I didn`t want to mention that vampires could easily glamor people to invite them in.

"I am a warrior. I am not sitting inside like an old woman. Show me the monsters and they are dead by my sword."

"Oh, Eric," I said in a sad voice.

He smiled at me. "Don`t worry. I`m not afraid of anything. And if I die, fighting monsters, I`ll die with pride and I will go to Valhalla."

_`Or you`ll walk the earth for a thousand years`_, I thought but I never said it.

xxxx

We sat there for quite some time without saying anything. Eric made soothing movements on my back and I leaned into them.

I was thinking of the fights I had been in - and the vampires I had fought. Long Shadow, Lorena, Charles Twining, Sigeberg, Jadeflower, Waldo, Milos, Mickey and Jake Purifoy. I had fought plenty of vampires and still it was only Lorena I had managed to kill all by myself - and that was just pure luck (I guess I was the one who staked Milos too, but Eric had been there and pushed the stake all the way in ).

Eric didn`t know the first thing about vampires. How was he supposed to fight one?

Claude had said that Eric would be turned no matter what I did. I had to accept it. I looked at Eric`s face and acknowledged the reassuring smile he was giving me. He wanted to comfort me because he thought I was in danger. Maybe I could do the same for him? Maybe I could make sure the limited time we had together would be sweet? Make sure that he would enjoy his last breathing days, weeks or months.

I relaxed a little and smiled back at Eric. We sat like that for a couple of minutes. Then I kissed him and did so with passion.

"That`s right, Sookie. Fuck danger. Fuck the monsters." He growled.

"No, actually, fuck you." I smiled a little. "That`s what I intend to do."

I pushed Eric back and straddled him while tugging at his shirt and pants. I didn`t get the system that kept his pants up and pulled frantically at the leather strings. I sorely missed zippers and buttons. Eric laughed, opened his pants and pulled them down to his knees. I had the advantage of not wearing underwear under my dress.

This wasn`t about pretty sex or us being naked. This was about pure lust and forgetting the bad things in the world.

I situated him at my entrance and without hesitating, I took all of him inside me in one swift move. I grunted deeply and Eric looked at me with surprised eyes and his mouth was open.

"Ah, Sookie," he shouted when I fastened my pace. I was fast and I was rough and I loved every second of it. I held onto Eric`s chest and buried my fingers in his shirt. My hips moved up and down so fast and hard I was almost worried about breaking my pelvis. Or his. This Eric could after all get bruises and wouldn`t heal overnight.

But it felt good. It felt grand. I was in charge and I said `fuck you` to everyone out there who wanted to hurt me or Eric. I said `fuck you` by bringing pleasure to myself – and judging by the look in Eric`s face – definitely to him as well. I worked hard and in a steady rhythm.

Then I felt it. I started walking up the stairs to Orgasm Heaven and the door was open. I worked faster, harder and suddenly someone hit me in the back of my head with a shovel. Only it was a shovel of pleasure. The pleasure I had been denied for so long.

I yelled out in surprise and joy. Shivers ran through my body. I tried to work us a little more, but my body just collapsed on top of Eric. My body trembled and sounds tumbled out of my mouth.

Eric tugged my hair gently and kissed my forehead. That was when I realized I had just taken and he was lying there with a severe case of blue balls.

"I`m sorry, Eric. I didn`t mean to…" I whispered, but was cut off.

"Sookie, sweetheart. I am never going to complain about you having the need to take me. You can do that anytime." He kissed me again.

"But…" I started.

"But, nothing. You needed to feel in control and I can see why. Maybe you wanted to fuck the monsters out of your system. Maybe it was the fear you needed to let go of. I`m just glad you found your pleasure again."

I blushed. "Yeah, I did, didn`t I?" I remembered my loud screams and hoped we wouldn`t have half the village running, thinking we had been tortured and killed.

Eric looked at me and then his wolfish grin appeared. "Now if you were to offer me some kind of relief as well…" He waggled his eyebrows and I couldn`t help laughing.

"Relief away," I giggled and rolled us over so that he was on top.

Eric pulled down my dress as much as he could and managed to lick and suck on my nipples while pumping slowly in and out. He then got up on his arms and worked me faster and I couldn`t help watching his face. He was so beautiful, so handsome and now he was glowing with sweat and lust.

I met every one of his movements and Eric moved his hands down to my butt, tilting me slightly while licking and nipping on my neck. I was probably sensitive from my last orgasm because suddenly I felt myself letting go again, but this time it was no shovel. This time the orgasm built from my fingers and toes and came like a wave throughout my body. I screamed out and started kissing Eric who was right behind me and yelled when his body became rigid and then lost all its strength.

I almost laughed because I had always thought that Eric yelled something in a language I didn`t understand – in Old Norse. Now that I spoke Eric`s language, I found out that it was all just gibberish. A lot of words without meaning. It warmed my heart somehow, to know this little detail about Eric.

Eric was heavy on top of me and it was strange to hear him panting while feeling his pulse beating like a drum-solo. My hands were in his hair and I couldn`t help thinking that I hadn`t felt this good or this safe in a long time.

Eric lifted his head and we just stared at each other, giving each other shy smiles.

"Wow," he finally said. "Wow, Sookie."

"Yeah, wow," I answered intelligently.

xxxx

After having caught our breath, kissed each other and giggled a little, we got up and walked back to the village. We walked hand in hand which was new to me.

Just when we were out of the forest, I stopped Eric and walked up before him. I just had to see him, look at him. He was a handsome man. A little flushed from the love making and his hair stood out some. Tall, broad shoulders. His linen shirt fit him perfectly and his waist was emphasized by the broad leather belt with a huge belt buckle. His sword hung down the side from his belt and the shirt covered most of his thighs. Under the shirt he wore leather pants and leather footwear similar to what I was wearing.

"Do you see something you like, Sookie?" he asked with a grin on his lips.

"I don`t have to tell you that." I smiled and walked towards the village.

I heard him come crashing from behind but his thoughts warned me of his plans and I jumped to the side and started running.

Eric had lost his balance at my movement, but was soon after me again. My limp made it hard to run fast so I ran from side to side to avoid him. We both laughed and I enjoyed the silliness of it. We were both giddy when we came to the village.

I needed to ask him something before we met his family, so I took a deep breath.

"You know I`m not from around here, Eric, and I`m not really familiar with your customs or how you do things. I want to contribute in your family, but I don`t want to make too many mistakes. Could you point me to some tasks I could do so that I can help out?" I was uncomfortable asking because a true Viking woman would probably see what needed be done and do it. But then I wasn`t a true Viking woman and I hoped Eric knew that.

He looked at me and then he smiled. "Of course, Sookie. It would bring me much joy if you could fill the void in my children`s lives that Aude left. My mother is getting older and has other tasks that need her attention. I will probably take Hrafn out to teach him to hunt and fight, but the two little ones need a female heart. I would also like you to keep an eye on the trell. Be friendly, but firm with them."

I was glad to look after the children, but the trell? "How do I put them to work if I don`t know what they are supposed to do?"

"Oh, that`s easy. They have their usual house chores and looking after the animals, but now that harvest time is getting closer, they have more than enough on their hands."

"And the children? Apart from looking after them, is there something I need to teach them or do with them?"

Eric took my hand. "They are still small and they lost their mother only half a year ago. They will mainly need love and care."

When Eric mentioned how the kids had lost their mother, I felt a sting. The kids would be losing their father soon too. And it wasn`t as if I would be sticking around to comfort them. I took a breath to find my resolve. If the kids were to meet sorrow in the near future, I would make sure they had happiness up until then. Not that a few weeks of happiness could outweigh years of pain, but it was all I could offer.

When we entered Eric`s house, Hrafn stood in defense mode with his little knife ready to take on anyone entering. He was very tense and he had both his sibling hidden behind him. I suddenly felt very bad for the sex Eric and I had had. The poor kid had probably been standing like this since Eric left the house.

"I am very proud of you, son. You are a true warrior who protect the weaker and is ready for anything." Eric smiled at his son. "You will be feared on all coasts one day."

Hrafn grew a couple of inches with his father`s praise and I decided to chime in. "I`m impressed with your son Eric. He was enjoyable company when we were checking the traps. He was fast when I told him to get you. And now he is fierce in the defense of his family. I can understand your pride."

Now both father and son beamed.

Eric crouched down and called his two little ones over to him. The smallest couldn`t have been more than two and oldest was around four or five. They flew to their father`s arms. "And you two were very good at letting Hrafn look out for you. I am proud of you two as well." He kissed them and I couldn`t help smiling.

This was another side of Eric, a side I had never expected to see. Even if I knew the future would bring all four of them a great deal of pain, no one could ever take away the love they had between them now.

"Children." Eric looked at me. "As you know, Sookie is my frille and will be living with me. With us. We will all live together and Sookie will be looking after you so you need to pay attention to what she says and treat her with respect."

I had heard plenty of stories about children not wanting their father or mother to have a new significant other and did their best to drive that person off. Arlene had been my main provider of these stories since her children were wise enough not to accept just anybody she took home with her.

But this was definitely not the case with Eric`s children. Maybe the shorter lifespan forced children in the Viking age to accept anyone who would care for them or maybe Arlene`s children just had a healthy skepticism against some of the men Arlene pushed into their lives.

"We welcome you, Sookie," Hrafn spoke words a little too mature.

"Thank you, Hrafn. I think we will all get along very well."

Hrafn took his little siblings by the hand and pulled them over to me. He pointed at the oldest one. "This is Hallbjørg." The little girl gave me a shy look. "And this is Thordis." He pushed the smallest one slightly forward. Both of them were as blond as their father, making Hrafns dark hair stand out. Thordis had the same dark eyes her big brother had. Hallbjørg was a tiny copy of Eric, though. Blond and blue eyes.

Eric had very beautiful children. But then Eric was a handsome man and his DNA was half of each of the three kids.

I crouched down on the floor to be at the same height as the two girls. "Hi Thordis and hi Hallbjørg," I smiled at them. When I didn`t get much of a response I tried to listen to their brains, just to make sure they didn`t hate me for taking their mother`s place in Eric`s bed.

I`d never read kids as small as Thordis before and I found it very different from reading adults. Her language had apparently not been formed yet so I mainly saw pictures. Almost all of the pictures had a dark haired woman in them. A woman I suspected was Aude. My heart bled for the little girl, missing her mother.

I held out my hand to her and after having looked at it for a little while, she took it. I then held out my hand to Hallbjørg. She was a bit more reluctant and I could understand why when I saw what occupied her mind.

She was seeing images of Ragnhild beating her. Hallbjørg was afraid I would hit her too.

"Ragnhild hit you?" I asked. I could hear Eric hiss, but I didn`t look up. My focus was on Halbjørg. I looked her in the eyes. "I`m not going to hit you, Hallbjørg. I don`t believe in hitting children." Her eyes were wide open and her body frozen.

I knew then that it had been counterproductive to address her fear. "I want us to be friends Hallbjørg." I thought for a minute. "Maybe you can show me the village and tell me about everything? You are a big girl and I will need your help since I`m new here. Could you do that for me?"

She relaxed slightly and I could detect a faint nod.

"Thank you, Hallbjørg." I looked up at Eric. "You have very clever kids, Eric. You must be proud of them."

And he was. He was sporting the goofiest grin. It was far from the wolfish grin I was getting when he wanted to get in my pants – or rather, in my dress. This was the smile of a proud father who envisioned a great future for his kids.

I sighed and smiled away the sorrow that overcame me. I was going to do my best for Eric and his kids so they could have joy in their lives before the inevitable hit them.

* * *

**A/N**

It must be heartbreaking for Sookie to know – but of course much worse for Eric when he has to endure the pain that awaits him.

I hope you liked this chapter!

**Porridge**

Sookie is learning to live the Viking way.

Maybe you want to as well? The website www . viking . no has posted a recipe for **Viking`s family porridge**. Enjoy :-D:

Measurements are given in cups. One cup = 1 ½ dl or about 90 g flour.

10-15 cups of water

Two cups of chopped wheat kernels. Let them soak over night so they won't be so hard to chew.

Two cups pearl barley

A handful whole grain wheat flour

A handful crushed kernels of nuts

3-4 tablespoons of honey

A healthy portion of apple bits, hippells, pears or other fruits

Put the chopped wheat kernels, wheat flour, pearl barley and crushed nuts in the kettle. Pour 10 cups of water in the kettle and place on the fire.

Stir the porridge evenly and turn the kettle to spread the heat. If the porridge starts to get too thick, pour more water in it.

After about ½ hour add the honey, nuts and fruit. The porridge should now cook until the fruit is wet and the porridge has the desired consistency. It should take 15-30 minutes.

It should be served warm, possibly with some cold cream.


	9. Chapter 9

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 9**

**A/N:**

Wow, the reviews the last chapter got. I`m so glad you enjoyed the chapter even if it was a bit sad. I guess it is sad for Sookie to know the future.

Did anyone make the porridge? :-D

Thank you to **Rascalthemutant** for reading this and correcting my mistakes! If you want to chat with Rascal, me or any of the other great women (including a lot of fanfic writers) you are all very welcome to come to the Alexander Skarsgård Library forum: **www . alexanderskarsgardlibrary . com / forum**. We even have our own little fanfic contest and you are all very welcome to enter. My prize in the contest is a CD with some hideous Swedish Dansband-music. Btw – I go under the nick **Nordanswede** there.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_I looked up at Eric. "You have very clever kids, Eric. You must be proud of them." _

_And he was. He was sporting the goofiest grin. It was far from the wolfish grin I was getting when he wanted to get in my pants – or rather, in my dress. This was the smile of a proud father who envisioned a great future for his kids. _

_I sighed and smiled away the sorrow that overcame me. I was going to do my best for Eric and his kids so they could have joy in their lives before the inevitable hit them. _

* * *

**Chapter 9:**

Hallbjørg did show me the ropes and giggled every time I made a major mistake. Which was pretty much all the time. I might as well have landed on another planet, so different were all the little things from what I was used to.

Hallbjørg told me that the open fire they used for cooking was called a meal-fire as opposed to the fire that only gave heat. Next to the meal-fire, which I would have called the kitchen, Eric`s animals had their stables. Hallbjørg laughed openly at my surprise that the cows, chickens and horses were under the same roof as the people.

"Where else are they supposed to be?" She asked. Indeed. Where else were they supposed to be? Under the same roof as the people living there, they would add to the general temperature and I assumed it would come in handy in cold winters to have built-in cow-heaters.

Actually the cows and horses were out on the pastures and the chickens were just outside, so I wasn`t put through the embarrassment of trying to milk a cow.

Xxx

After a couple of hours in and about the village, we met up with Eric. He was carrying Thordis and Hrafn walked next to him. When Hallbjørg saw them, she ran over.

"Sookie doesn`t know anything," she screamed with laughter. And then she made a very long list of every stupid question I had asked and everything I had done wrong. My head was turning redder and redder and Eric`s laughter didn`t help much.

When Hallbjørg was done, Eric pulled me close to him. He looked down at his children. "So I guess we can`t keep her for her skills then, huh?" I stared at him. "So we`ll just have to let her stay because we like her, right?"

Hallbjørg and Hrafn laughed and I couldn`t help smiling though I knew I was the joke. But I could be the joke if that made everyone feel better for now.

And I must admit it felt kind of good that I wasn`t chosen for my skills or abilities. Just this once.

Xxxx

It was a nice dinner. It was just Eric and his kids, Eric`s mother and Eric`s brother Egil. We had lively conversation, we smiled and we laughed. Of course, I was the cause of most of the laughter – and highly involuntarily. You can`t just go back a millennium and slide right in.

But it seemed they had all accepted that I came from somewhere very different from this place and no one asked where that was.

I must admit I peeped into the head of my Eric`s mother, to see her honest opinion of me. Searching for what people really thought of me was something I had stopped doing at a very early age after a few painful experiences. But now I chose to do it again. I wanted to know if she liked me.

I couldn`t help smiling because the first thought I got from her was how annoyed she was that I had denied her the god-given right to see her son`s frille naked. How was she to know if I had childbearing hips if she wasn`t allowed to see them?

Then I was washed over with a lot of warm thoughts about Eric being in his best mood since Aude died and how I was a so much better choice than the skank Ragnhild. Yes, Eric`s mother actually thought his former lover was a skank.

She was worried about my total lack of skills in keeping a house, but figured her son`s happiness was more important. She decided she would teach me the basics before I became the laughing stock of the whole village.

And then she was worried about what Eric`s father would think of me. To tell you the truth – so was I.

Xxx

Eric and I put his kids to bed. Hrafn had his own bed and the two girls slept together. We stood for a while, with our arms around each other`s waists, and just watched them sleep. The light from the fireplace danced over their faces and it was a beautiful sight.

I couldn`t help letting out a sigh of pain. These children would soon be orphaned and it broke my heart to think about it. I knew they had a grandmother who would look after them and their uncles and aunts would probably also do their best, but I knew what it was like to lose both your parents at a young age and no loving grandmother could take away the void.

This was as close to being a mother I would ever get and I would certainly make the best of whatever little time I had with Eric`s kids. I would give Eric`s children all my love in the limited time I had with them. I would do it for them and maybe a little for myself too.

I would never have children when I went back home to Bon Temps. The obvious reason was that Eric was infertile. Vampires couldn`t father children. But I also knew that with my involvement in the supe world, children were out of the question even if I found myself a fertile donor.

What would hold any vampire back from kidnapping my child to force me to work for him? Or take the child in the hope that it had my telepathy? My child could even be used against Eric since we had a bond between us.

Not to mention the fairies. They had killed my parents. I couldn`t just look by while they butchered my child. Even weres could endanger any kids I might have. They were always `pack first` and even if I was friend of a couple of packs, I was sure that would mean very little if an unfriendly pack needed leverage in a were fight.

These were just the dangers my kid would be in. What really saddened me was the upbringing it would have. I had always been `crazy Sookie` and I could imagine all the names a kid with a telepathic mother and a vampire step-dad would be called. Assuming Eric would even be a step-dad, which he probably wouldn`t since it would endanger his undead life immensely.

But here and now, looking down at Eric`s sweet and beautiful children, I enjoyed a little taste of motherhood. Or at least step-motherhood.

When I looked at Eric, I caught him studying my face.

"You may not be able to milk a goat," Eric whispered with a warm smile on his face. I made a noise of slight embarrassment, being reminded of today`s activities. After all I was used to buying milk in the stores. And who drank goats-milk anyway? "But you have what matters, Sookie." He laid the palm of his hand on my chest, covering my heart. "I`m very glad Odin decided to entrust me with your safety."

I didn`t really know what to say so I just smiled back. I was not easily touched, but Eric made my heart sing.

Xxx

I insisted on wearing clothes at night now his kids were sleeping in the same room. When I undressed myself to put on a nightshirt he had found for me, Eric was fast and started sucking on my breasts the few seconds they were naked.

"Eric, your children," I whispered.

"Yes, what about my children?" He asked, obviously not knowing what I meant.

"They can hear us," I explained.

"Yes, and so? All they will hear is their father being very happy. And hopefully their father`s frille too. There is nothing wrong with happiness."

"Eric, I`m sorry, but I can`t have sex in the same room as your kids."

Eric stared at me. "Are you asking me to send my children back to my mother?" He was surprised, and not in a good way.

"No, Eric! No!" I whispered as loudly as I could. I pulled him into me in a hug. "No, your children belong with you. With us."

"But you don`t want to make love to me." Eric didn`t understand any of what I was trying to say. Talk about being lost in translation.

"Eric," I said and grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the bed. "Let`s go to bed."

Eric`s smile returned on his lips. I swatted his upper arm.

"I`m not going to have sex with you, Eric!" I hissed. But I smiled too.

"We`ll see about that."

Eric was nothing if not a very confident man. As it happened, he had good reason to be confident. He spooned me in the bed, but when he started caressing my breasts and kissing my neck, I could feel my resolve slowly disappearing.

Suddenly we heard little steps padding over the floor and a blond head looked down at us.

"Daddy. I was having a nightmare. Can I sleep with you?"

I looked at little Hallbjørg and read the nightmare she had had. That made me pull the covers back.

"Of course you can, Sweetheart."

I heard Eric whisper behind me. "This is a conspiracy." And then he snickered.

Hallbjørg had no more nightmares that night.

Xxx

A week passed with me in complete family bliss. Eric`s children kept showing me things in and around the village. Partly to teach me the life of the village, partly to get some cheap laughs at my incompetence.

Eric`s mother often shook her head over me, but she seemed to like me all the same. Maybe it was because we laughed at the same things and had the same kind of energy or maybe it was just because she saw her son happy.

Eric and I were happy together. We talked and had fun and I found him very easy to be with.

We had a lot of sex. In the beginning, mainly in the woods where he would always have some kind of errand for the both of us. But after a couple of days, we also had sex in Eric`s bed.

It was great sex, as sex with Eric always was. I didn`t have an orgasm every time we made love, but often enough for me to be more than thrilled. After a while, I didn`t even need to be in control to reach my pleasures.

Eric didn`t have the same stamina he would have a thousand years forwards in time, but he could make love at daylight, and there is something to be said for having sex in the sunshine. I always loved those rays.

So when the announcement came that Eric`s father would be returning the next day, I had moved to Happy Land and the worry I felt a week earlier was gone.

* * *

**A/N:**

So how do you like Eric and Sookie`s life? Next chapter – Eric`s father!

And this is when I tell you that I cheated just a little bit. Most of the Viking houses archeologists have found were much larger than what I`ve made Eric`s house. 30 - 50 people living in one house - all generations, trell, uncles and aunts and what not. Well, I figured Sookie would have a bit of a problem being close to Eric with his parents and siblings sleeping a few feet away, so I figured they just hadn`t excavated that Viking house for just the nuclear family yet (yes, I will be thrown out of the Historical Society now). I`m allowed this kind of freedom to make the story better, right?

But the part with the farm animals living under the same roof was correct. A half wall separating animals and people to keep everyone warm. It IS very cold around here at winter!

On a more personal note I want to add that I`m on a business trip right now. I`m in Trondheim, Norway`s third largest city. And from my hotel window I can see the cathedral that was built in year 1070. The city itself is much older. All of this is really getting me in the mood for this story.


	10. Chapter 10

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 10**

**A/N**

I am at Trondheim airport waiting to go back to Oslo. I figured I would post another chapter for you now since it`ll be way too late when I come home. That means that I never won`t be able to answer all the great reviews I got from you guys. Sorry – and thank you very much for them *kisses all readers and reviewers*. But I figured you would rather have a chapter than a review answer. Right?

On a fun note – I am currently in the outskirts of Hell. That`s the name of the neighbor village to Trondheim airport. I was told that the sign saying "_Velkommen til Hell_" (Welcome to Hell) is stolen every time they hang up a new one….

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** who is currently betaing both my stories on overnight express. I`m so impressed with you, Rascal!

Yes, your eyes are not fooling you. I posted new chapters to both stories today *polishes halo*.

OK, enough from me. On with the story.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Eric and I were happy together. We talked and had fun and I found him very easy to be with. We had a lot of sex. In the beginning, mainly in the woods where he would always have some kind of errand for the both of us. But after a couple of days, we also had sex in Eric`s bed. _

_It was great sex, as sex with Eric always was. I didn`t have an orgasm every time we made love, but often enough for me to be more than thrilled. After a while, I didn`t even need to be in control to reach my pleasures. _

_Eric didn`t have the same stamina he would have a thousand years forwards in time, but he could make love at daylight, and there is something to be said for having sex in the sunshine. I always loved those sunrays. _

_So when the announcement came that Eric`s father would be returning the next day, I had moved to Happy Land and I couldn`t even manage to get nervous. _

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Eric`s father was almost as tall as Eric, just as blond, though with a little dash of white in his hair, and with the same blue eyes. It was unnerving to see what Eric would have looked like 20 years from now if he hadn`t been frozen in his vampire state. Eric`s mother had the same colors as Eric, but it was obvious that Eric had inherited most of his looks from his father.

Eric`s father was a strong man, commanding the world with just a wink of the eye or a single eyebrow movement.

The village had shifted its tempo when it was known that Eric`s father Helgi would bring home another chieftain and some of his men with him. Everyone ran a little faster, beds were made and food was prepared. The girls braided their hair a little fancier and the boys wrestled each other a little harder.

And when they arrived, every person, young and old, went out to greet them. Eric and his family were first in line, and so was I since Eric had his arm wrapped around my shoulders.

Eric`s father gave his mother a deep kiss and even groped her butt. I looked around to see if anyone else was embarrassed, but people just smiled and shouted sexual innuendos after Helgi.

Helgi then came over to Eric and gave him a good hug and exchanged some pleasantries. When they pulled back from each other, Eric grabbed my hand and introduced me.

"This is my frille and my protected, Sookie Stackhouse. She was sent to me by Odin and has been the light of my eyes ever since."

I blushed at Eric`s words, but understood that he had to make a point to his father when I saw Helgi`s assessing eyes.

"Yes, I have heard much about you already. My son says you are sent by Odin, others might claim you have turned his head in an unnatural way. I can see your beauty, but I will need conversation with you as well, to give this union my blessing. It has complicated matters, but we may still be able to find a solution."

I had no idea what he was talking about, but his smile was as soothing as Eric`s could be, so I decided to trust it and smiled back at him.

Helgi greeted the rest of his family and then he looked back at the men still on their horses.

"And now you, our esteemed guests, will please excuse an old man for spending so much time being welcomed by his family. Please make yourselves at home in our village. We are your family and you are ours and so you shall be treated."

The men got off their horses and people greeted them with hugs and handshakes. They were brought bread and mead by a couple of trell and their horses were taken care of.

Eric`s father spoke again. "Today we will look into the matters between my son, Eric Helgison, and Ragnhild Oddbjørnsdatter. I believe blood has been drawn. Afterwards we will party. And tomorrow we will hold Holmgang."

People cheered and laughed.

I looked at Eric. "What is Holmgang?"

He smiled at me like he had just won the largest teddy bear at the carnival.

xxxx

The men were sitting on a large stone each, all the stones forming a circle. Ragnhild was brought to stand in the middle. The sun was shining on her, but she still seemed to be cold.

"You have drawn blood from one of your own people. That is an offence. Do you have anything to say for yourself, Ragnhild?" Eric`s father asked in a stern voice.

Ragnhild looked down and shrugged. I had expected an outburst or wild accusations, but she just stood there as if she didn`t really care about what was happening to her.

Apparently that surprised everyone because there was a murmur of voices. I decided to check out her brain to see what was going on and gasped. She had been glamored, severely glamored. Her brain was like Swiss cheese and the only thing roaming in her brain was the urge to go out in the woods again as soon as it was dark.

Eric looked at me, probably wondering what had surprised me and I gave him a smile. It wasn`t the whole `crazy Sookie-smile`, but it was all I could manage.

Was it Appius who was feeding on Ragnhild or was another vampire also close by? I shuddered at the thought. A couple of vampires could probably take out a whole village if they felt like it. Of course, that would draw unwanted attention to them, so they probably wouldn`t. At least that was what I tried to calm myself down with.

But then I figured the villagers needed to know if they were to protect themselves, if they were to stay inside at night. Ragnhild wasn`t exactly on my Christmas card list, but she didn`t deserve to be the night snack of anyone. And who would be the next McHuman to this vampire?

I stood on my toes and motioned for Eric to bend down so I could whisper in his ear. "Is it possible to have Ragnhild take away the shawl she is wearing around her neck?" It was a warm day so she would have no need to wear anything but her dress. A woolen shawl around her neck definitely rose my suspicion.

"Why?" Eric asked.

"Because I think Ragnhild has fallen victim to the bloodsucking monster. I think she has his marks on her neck."

Eric`s eyes widened, but then he raised his voice. "I would like to know why Ragnhild is wearing a shawl today. Would you please remove it, Ragnhild?"

Everyone looked at Eric in surprise, but Ragnhild`s face was full of horror. She tightened the shawl.

"No, I can`t. I won`t allow it," she said, her voice trembling.

That made Eric`s father stand up. "Ragnhild. I don`t know what`s going on, but if my son wants to make a point of you removing your shawl on a warm day, you will do this. You are being judged and must answer requests like this."

When she didn`t comply, he walked over to her and pulled her shawl off. She held her hand on her neck and I was pretty sure I knew what she was hiding. Eric`s father looked questioningly at Eric, who looked the same way at me.

"She will have two marks on her neck." I said loud enough for Eric to hear it. He repeated it so that his father would also hear.

When Ragnhild`s hand was pulled away from her neck, the whole village made a sound. They looked at each other and then at me.

"What do those two marks mean?" Eric`s father asked partly me and partly his son.

I didn`t want to cause panic so I gave myself a few seconds before I answered. Eric didn`t have those qualms and shouted. "A bloodsucking monster has taken her blood. Sookie tells me it can only come out at night so I want to ask Ragnhild`s family if she has been wandering about after dark."

A loud shriek sounded and I saw an elderly woman run towards Ragnhild. "Nooo, Ragnhild! Why didn`t you listen to me?"

If I had ever had any hopes of not scaring people, I was not succeeding. People shouted and looked partly at Ragnhild, partly at me.

Then Eric`s father raised his arms and everyone went quiet. He stared at me.

"How did you know about this monster?" he asked.

_`Because your son will be my vampire lover.`_ I wanted to answer. But I just shook my head.

Xxxx

We were inside Eric`s parents` house, sitting around their table when Eric`s father leaned over to me. Eric, Eric`s mother and a group of men, both from the village and some of the visitors, looked at me.

"We have to know what you know, Sookie. We need to know as much as possible about this monster to kill it."

I drew a quick breath. "You can`t kill it. I will tell you what I know if you promise not to go after it. I don`t want the whole village killed."

"We can`t make such promises. It is our way to slay our threats. And if one of us dies, it will be an honorable death." Eric`s father said. Now I knew where Eric got his ideas from.

I shook my head. "I will tell you about the monster. Maybe that will make you fear it."

And so I told them about vampires. About how they could only be up at night, their strength, their speed, their glamoring and how one was safe if one stayed inside a house. I told them they were hard to kill and that only sunlight, having their heads cut off and a stake to their heart would do the job. And of course that silver was the perfect metal for anyone up against vampires. I tried to make sure they all knew what kind of predators vampires were, but I didn`t seem to succeed.

Eric held my hand and when I was finished trying to put fear in my audience, he kissed my cheek.

Suddenly a voice sounded from the other end of the room.

"She is telling the truth."

I turned around in surprise because I had been so preoccupied with my tales, I hadn`t noticed anyone standing in the kitchen area. The visiting chieftain got up and walked towards the man. He held out his hands and pulled him towards the table.

"I thank you, Steinngrim." He then looked at the others. "You all know Steinngrim the Seer," he said to the rest of the group.

I quickly looked into Steinngrim`s head to see what `seer` meant and was surprised when my own thoughts were mirrored back to me.

"You can read my mind?" I asked, before I could stop myself.

"As you can mine," Steinngrim said with a smile.

* * *

**A/N:**  
I hope you liked this chapter too.

**Stones in circles:**

You will actually find the stones in circles many places in Scandinavia even today. I remember we played on them when I was a kid. We jumped from one to the next and the first one touching ground, was "dead".

**Seers**:

Witches, fortunetellers and other magic people were highly valued in the Viking age. There were different kinds of witchcraft, but even those into black witchcraft were esteemed members of their society (though not popular when they made men impotent). Witchcraft of all sorts was mainly practiced by women (though I`m having a man filling the part in my story). Here is the explanation from my good friend the **Viking Answer Lady**:

Seiðr was women's magic, first and foremost, so much so that to learn the arts of seiðr caused a man to be regarded as argr: willing or inclined to play the female part in sexual relations with another man, unmanly, effeminate, and cowardly. No one is certain why practicing seiðr should carry such a strong condemnation of masculinity with it. It has been speculated that seiðr was considered unmanly because it allowed a man to strike at enemies with magic or poison, or perhaps that the rituals attending seiðr included some sexual rites in which the seiðr-worker was the recipient of sexual attentions. It is more likely that the seiðr-practitioner was at times undergoing spirit possession or even possession by the gods, as happens in voudoun. By allowing one's self to be "ridden," and to allow another spirit or entity control over one's body, one totally gave up control and became passive, the antithesis of the expected ethic for masculinity.


	11. Chapter 11

**Dead with the Vikings – chapter 11**

**A/N:**

I am riding on a pink cloud these days. The feedback this story and **Dead without a Work Permit** are getting is so amazing. And now I was just told on Twitter that my little ficlet **Dust Bunnies and Christmas Presents** won the **Naughty and Nice contest**. I can`t stop smiling. I really can`t. And I`m celebrating it with a slightly longer chapter this time. Party is on me. Pass the Tuborg :-D

Thank you so much **Rascalthemutant** for reading this and patiently correcting the same mistakes again and again *faces palm*. You are the best!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

"_She is telling the truth." I turned around in surprise because I had been so preoccupied with my tales, I hadn`t noticed anyone standing in the kitchen area. _

_The visiting chieftain got up and walked towards the man. He held out his hands and pulled him towards the table._

"_I thank you, Steinngrim." He then looked at the others. "You all know Steinngrim the Seer," he said to the rest of the group. _

_I quickly looked into Steinngrim`s head to see what `seer` meant and was surprised when my own thoughts were mirrored back to me._

"_You can read my mind?" I asked, before I could stop myself._

"_As you can mine," Steinngrim said with a smile. _

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

Judging from the pride Eric had in his eyes when he looked at me, being a telepath, or a seer as they called it, wasn`t a bad thing in the Viking age. Eric`s father nodded approvingly and the other chieftain smiled.

"It seems Steinngrim finally has a colleague," he said. "I congratulate you, Helgi. The gods have smiled upon you." He looked at me. "It seems we need to make certain changes to what we discussed for Eric. But as I already mentioned, I have another daughter who will be more suitable for him now. She will make a great addition to Eric`s household without making any unwanted claims." He looked at Eric and then back at me. "Yes, I do believe Sigbrit will be a perfect match for Eric since he has found such an extraordinary frille."

I cringed though I wasn`t sure what they were talking about. Eric smiled and nodded so I figured it couldn`t be all bad. He even gave my hand a reassuring squeeze under the table. I was about to whisper to him for an explanation when Eric`s father spoke again.

"Yes, this will be perfect. Eric will have one woman in the kitchen and another one in bed."

This remark made everyone laugh, including Eric. I blushed as I was aware of which of the women I was to be. I had proven myself utterly incapable in the Viking kitchen.

"But now for a more pressing matter," Helgi continued. "We must find this monster and kill it before it kills us."

Everyone in the room, apart from me, yelled and cheered. Apparently the Vikings believed in meeting monsters head on. I swallowed and felt a deep fear in my gut. I was made of a different material than the fearless people surrounding me. Or maybe I had just met more monsters.

Xxx

"This is perfect," Eric said when we were alone in his home. "My father wanted me to take a new wife ever since Aude died and one of his tasks at the Ting was to find a good match. He had already negotiated a wife for me before he knew of you, but when he saw how much you mattered to me, he picked her sister instead. Sigbrit will be a great wife for me now. She will secure a good relation to our neighbors. She is hard working and will be a good addition to our household. And the best part of it is that she is not a lover of men so she will only expect me to lay with her to give her children. I will keep you, and only you, in my bed."

A brief thought of me having Eric`s child entered my brain. But then I remembered how Claude had said that nothing would change. It left me feeling relieved – and sad.

"What do you mean, she is no lover of men?" I asked. "What? She prefers women?"

Eric grinned. "Yes, she has great taste, right? She loves the soft curves more than hard muscles. It has been difficult for her father to get her married because he wanted to respect her wishes to not share her husband`s bed regularly. But what man would want a wife who sleeps at the other end of the room?" Eric asked. "Apart from me, of course. I already have the bed warmth I want." He laughed and was almost giddy.

"So this is ok by you? To marry a woman who doesn`t really want you?"

"Oh, she wants me. She just doesn`t want me that way. But what woman doesn`t want children and a family? Now she can have these things. And I can have you and still make a good liaison. Sigbrit`s father is indeed a wise man to make me this offer."

I stared at him, finding it hard to comprehend what he was saying. He was marrying another woman because he liked me so much?

Eric must have seen my less than pleased face. He kissed me deeply and whispered. "Don`t worry, my lover. You will always have my bed. And I`m sure you will make great friends with Sigbrit." He smiled. "Just not too good friends. I don`t like sharing." He laughed at his own joke.

His hand was snaking its way up under my dress when the door opened with a loud noise and a man came tumbling in.

"Ragnhild is gone," he shouted. "She has gone back to the monster."

I looked out and noticed it had turned dark.

Xxxx

I wanted to cry when I saw Eric dressed to fight. I had convinced him of wearing all his silver and even if he complained about also having to wear women`s jewelry, he complied. He looked like a bizarre Christmas tree as he walked off, but he accepted it in the hope that it would give him an advantage in the fight.

He carried his sword and also had his knife in his belt. I had furthermore given him a wooden stake and told him to use it in the heart of the vampire.

I hugged Eric`s children close to me and tried not to show my fear. Hrafn was proud of his father and I didn`t want to take that away from him. The girls didn`t know their father would be in danger.

A large group of men gathered and they were told never to walk less than four by four and to be on the lookout not only on the ground, but also the air. I had explained to them how some vampires could also fly.

My gut wanted to turn itself inside out when the men left, but there was only so much I could do with Vikings. If they saw a threat, they would kill it. They didn`t sit around and wait. At least I managed to get them to stay together, wear silver and not underestimate what they were up against. Or so I hoped.

Xxx

I brought the children to Eric`s parents` house and waited with Eric`s mother. She was extremely calm for a woman who had a husband and two sons trying to catch a monster. Maybe this was the Viking way or maybe she was just good at hiding her true emotions. I didn`t want to look inside her brain to find out.

I had years of practice in keeping my emotions to myself. If you can hear the mean thoughts in people`s minds, you can`t go around showing it in public. So I tried to copy the older woman. Apparently I wasn`t very successful.

"Eric is the finest warrior in this village – and in all the villages nearby. He will come back to you, Sookie," she said out of the blue.

I let out the breath I never knew I had been holding and Eric`s mother smiled at me. Then she asked me help to her cook dinner. We were cooking for the party we were having to celebrate the death of the monster. I couldn`t help smiling at her confidence. Apparently Eric didn`t get it from strangers.

Xxxx

There was a knock on the door and Steinngrim the seer entered.

"Excuse me for intruding," he said, "but I would like to sit with my colleague, if that is acceptable to you." He looked at Eric`s mother who nodded.

I wondered why Steinngrim wasn`t out fighting the vampire since everyone else was. I never asked, but of course with a telepath, I didn`t have to.

He smiled at me. "I am not considered man enough to fight. They even prefer some female warriors to me."

"Because you can hear people?" I asked in surprise. I had gotten the impression that everyone was fine with telepathy.

"Yes, partly. Being a seer is considered women`s work. Since you are a woman you don`t have to worry about people knowing about your abilities. They make you a very valued member of your new village. I am valued too, but regarded almost as a woman." When he heard my mind pitying him he continued. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with being looked at as feminine. It makes me proud."

Eric`s mother looked at me. "It isn`t just because he is a seer we see him as feminine. Steinngrim is a receiver when he has intercourse with men." She said it in a dry voice, stating a fact.

"Yes, I do," Steinngrim looked proud. I blushed. How could they talk about Steinngrim`s sexual life so casually?

All this talk about Steinngrim and his sexual preferences made me forget the men who were out in the night. But when there was a moment of silence, the thoughts came crashing back.

Steinngrim took my hand. "He will come back, Sookie. Of that I`m sure. Maybe you should try and sleep a little and forget your fear?"

"I can`t go to sleep now," I said. That made Steinngrim look me deep in the eyes and I could feel my eyelids getting heavier and heavier. And then I was gone.

Xxx

I wasn`t sure how long I had been asleep when the door opened with a bang and men came tumbling in. I was in a bed, but still at Eric`s parents` home. I sat up, very confused at having been asleep in the first place. Had Steinngrim hypnotized me?

"Yes, I did," a voice said. Steinngrim smiled at me. "You needed some reprieve from your fear."

I was about to tell him just where he could stick his hypnotism, and he probably read it from my thoughts too, when Helgi spoke. He was one of the men who had come home and I quickly jumped out of the bed to go to Eric as Eric and Helgi had been in the same group. But Eric wasn`t there.

Helgi looked at me and then at his wife.

"Ragnhild is dead," he said. And that was all he said. He sat down and drank heavily from the cup of mead his wife had planted in front of him.

I was about to ask him what had happened when Steinngrim pulled me away.

"He doesn`t need your questions now. Eric is missing. He ran from his group when they caught sight of the monster."

"Noooooo!" My voice broke and thoughts ran through my mind. Was it Appius? Was he going to catch Eric? Would he change Eric now? Had history just been altered?

I looked at Eric`s children, sleeping in their beds and my eyes were filled with tears. I knew Eric would be changed, but not that it would happen so soon. I wanted my Viking Eric back even if I wanted my vampire Eric too. Trying not to lose it completely, I forced myself to think of all the sweet times vampire Eric and I had had.

If people see their lives pass them by when they die, my mind was showing the movie `The Best of Eric and Sookie Nookie`. It calmed me down somewhat to think of the future, to think of what was to come for my Viking. As long as I didn`t look at Eric`s soon-to-be-orphaned children, I was ok.

Then my eyes fell on Steinngrim and saw him staring at me, eyes huge as plates.

"You are taking Eric to your world soon?" Steinngrim whispered in disbelief. "I mean, I shall not try to pretend I understood your mind, but I saw you and Eric in a very strange place." He looked at me for a while. Then his voice became even thinner. "Are you taking him to Valhalla?"

I held Steinngrim`s hand in mine and shook my head. "I wish, Steinngrim. I wish." A tear ran down my cheek and I looked away. Unfortunately my eyes caught the children sleeping and it broke my heart.

Steinngrim pulled me into his arms. "You are worried about Eric`s children because you think he will be taken away from them?"

I sniffed into his shirt. "Yes, I do. I mean, how would you feel if you had kids and you knew they would lose you?"

"Oh, but I do have children, Sookie."

I pulled back and looked him in the eyes while checking his brains too. I saw a couple of kids sitting on his lap, listening to stories of Odin, Thor and Freia.

"But, I thought…."

He smiled. "I was lucky to find a wife who did not expect me to accompany her to bed every night. We are great friends. Just as Eric and Sigbrit will be."

I sighed. Eric marrying someone else seemed like a trifle problem just now. He could have a harem for all I cared, as long as he made it home safe tonight.

"And Eric`s children will be cared for by loving family members."

Steinngrim smiled and it had a soothing effect on me. I hated the control his mind had over mine, but I couldn`t help welcoming it all the same.

We sat there for a long time when suddenly the door sprang open and Steinngrim`s spell over me was broken. Eric walked in, bloody and with a wild look in his eyes. Everyone jumped up and ran to him apart from me. I was glued to the ground.

"I almost had him," Eric yelled. "I almost killed the bloodsucker." He was equal parts proud and angry and his energy levels were through the roof.

He looked at his parents, and the other people gathered around him, as if they were strangers.

"Where is Sookie?" he yelled. When he saw me standing like a statue he used his long strong legs to walk over to me with urgent steps. His mind was broadcasting loudly all the things he was going to do to me, with me, and if I hadn`t been so angry with him, I`m sure we would have devoured each other right there and then in front of everyone. Then Mama Eric would finally be allowed a view of my hips – and everything else I had to offer her son.

But I was angry. I was furious. It rode over me like a huge wave and I couldn`t stop myself. Without any control of my hand, it landed on Eric`s cheek in a loud slap. And to make matters worse, I did it again a second later, sending Eric tumbling backwards.

I was not a violent woman. Yes, I would strike in self-defense, but domestic violence made my blood boil. This didn`t change the fact that I had just stricken the man I loved. And without any regret.

Eric regained his composure and stared at me in shock. Suddenly I heard a deep laughter from behind me. I turned around and saw Eric`s father having trouble breathing because he found my slapping his son amusing. When he finally did manage to catch his breath, he came over to us and laid a hand on Eric`s shoulder.

"You travel the world to find worthy opponents for your fights and then it turns out that the one person stronger than you is right next to you." Eric tried to speak, but Helgi held up his hand. "I suggest you go home and kiss and make up. We`ll keep the kids here for the night."

Xxxx

Eric almost carried me back to his house. That was how busy he was getting me home. I, on the other hand, was still full of conflicting emotions. Now that I had slapped most of my anger out of me, with visible marks on Eric`s cheek to prove it, I was relieved I had Eric back home with nothing worse than a few scratches as a result of his fight with the vampire.

Relieved, angry, sad, thrilled and horny. The closer we came to his house, the more dominant the last emotion got.

Eric kicked his door open and was on me with a frenzy as soon as we were inside. I pulled his hair hard and made him bend down so I could kiss him. We almost ate each other up when he lifted me backwards to the table.

I was thrown down on my back and immediately locked my legs around Eric`s waist. His pants were down on his knees and before I knew it, he was inside me.

"SOOKIE!" he yelled as he entered me and I would have yelled his name back if I hadn`t been so busy panting and groaning.

It was hard and rough – and great. Skin slapped against skin, fingers bore into flesh, mouths bit and licked whatever they could come across.

I arched my back when I felt myself getting closer and Eric leaned over and started nibbling on my earlobe, whispering all the gibberish I had once thought was coherent sentences in some Norse language.

My whole body stiffened when I came in a violent orgasm. Eric wasn`t far behind and he thrust even harder, even faster. Suddenly he raised his upper body and trembled so hard the whole table turned over.

I screamed, but Eric cradled me and rolled us over so he could take the fall onto the floor. He would have a severe bruise the next day, but he didn`t seem to notice now, holding me close to him, kissing my hair and face over and over again.

We lay there for some time, just listening to each other`s heartbeats and giving each other small kisses. Then I sighed and whispered into his chest. "I was so worried about you."

Eric looked down at me. "I will always come back to you. I promise." Then he kissed me and carried me to our bed.

I slept like a child. The last thing that crossed my mind before the lights were turned off was how much I preferred Eric`s way of making me sleepy to Steinngrim`s.

Neither of us noticed the party the rest of the village was having. It was a `gravøl`, grave beer, for Ragnhild.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter!

**Gravøl/ grave beer: **

A party to celebrate a dead person. A lot of beer and a lot of tales about the deceased. And of course a lot of crying too.

**Being gay in the Viking age**:

Again I turn to the **Viking Answer Lady Webpage** who has this to say about gay and lesbian in the Viking age

My personal research into homosexuality in the Viking Age shows clearly that the Vikings had words (and therefore mental constructs and concepts) of same-sex activity; however since the needs of agricultural/pastoral living require reproduction not only to work the farm but also to provide support for the parent in old age, it was expected that no matter what one's affectional preferences were that each individual would marry and reproduce. There are no recorded instances of homosexual or lesbian couples in the Viking Age: moreover, the idea of living as an exclusively homosexual person did not exist in most cultures until present day Western civilization appeared. One's sexual partners mattered little so long as one married, had children, and conformed at least on the surface to societal norms so as not to disturb the community. Those Scandinavians who attempted to avoid marriage because of their sexuality were penalized in law: a man who shunned marriage was termed fuðflogi (man who flees the female sex organ) while a woman who tried to avoid marriage was flannfluga (she who flees the male sex organ).

The evidence of the sagas and laws shows that male homosexuality was regarded in two lights: there was nothing at all strange or shameful about a man having intercourse with another man if he was in the active or "manly" role, however the passive partner in homosexual intercourse was regarded with derision. It must be remembered, however, that the laws and sagas reflect the Christian consciousness of the Icelander or Norwegian of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, well after the pagan period. The myths and legends show that honored gods and heroes were believed to have taken part in homosexual acts, which may indicate that pre-Christian Viking Scandinavia was more tolerant of homosexuality, and history is altogether silent as to the practice of lesbianism in the Viking Age.


	12. Chapter 12

**Dead with the Vikings – chapter 12**

**A/N:**  
Thank you so much for the great reviews and PMs. You are the reason for the silly grin I walk around with these days :-D

And thank you so much to Rascalthemutant for reading this and making the necessary changes. I really don`t know what I would have done without you!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Eric looked down at me. "I will always come back to you. I promise." Then he kissed me and carried me to our bed. _

_I slept like a child. The last thing that crossed my mind before the lights were turned off was how much I preferred Eric`s way of making me sleepy to Steinngrim`s. _

_And neither of us noticed the party the rest of the village was having. It was a `gravøl`, grave beer, for Ragnhild. _

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

A large warm hand on my forehead, brushing away my hair, woke me up. A kiss on the tip of my nose made me open my eyes. I looked into the clear blue eyes of my favorite Viking.

I stretched out and yawned slightly. "Good morning," I smiled. My body was sore from last night, but I wasn`t one to complain.

Eric kissed my lips tentatively and pulled back. "Why did you slap me?" he asked. He looked as if it had been troubling him all night.

I turned around so that we were face to face and let my fingers caress his cheek and chin.

"Why did you run away from your group? What happened?"

"We saw the monster bent over Ragnhild, its mouth at her throat. She was still alive so we ran to save her. The monster looked up and stared at us with the coldest eyes I`ve ever seen. It looked human and then not human at all. And the teeth…" Eric shuddered. "Then we heard a terrible snap and I knew it had broken Ragnhild`s neck. I suppose it made me go berserk. No one kills any of my villagers without feeling my wrath. So I ran after it and I suppose I surprised it too because my sword actually made contact with it." Eric looked proud. "Unfortunately that made the monster turn around and it threw me back into the trees. I guess I was out for some time because it was gone when I woke up. So I made it back to the village." He looked at me. "Where I was slapped by you."

"I was scared for you. And I guess I was mad because you didn`t keep your promise never to separate from your group." I thought a little. Then I whispered, "I was sure you were dead."

"You have that little confidence in me?" Eric half-asked, half-teased.

I looked at him, stared into his blue eyes. "No, Eric. If anyone can take out that monster it would probably be you, but you have to take precautions and you didn`t. You risked your life unnecessarily. Look, I`m sorry I slapped you. I really shouldn`t have. But your safety is important to me and if you promise me something, I expect you to keep that promise."

Eric`s eyes searched my face. Then he kissed me and this time it wasn`t tentatively.

"I will never make a promise to you again that I don`t intend to keep," He said between kisses. "And now I promise to give you pleasure you have never felt before."

And he did. Several times.

Xxxx

It was probably around noon when Egil barged into Eric`s house. We were not having sex just then, but I still blushed to my toes when he looked at us with a crooked smile. I quickly covered myself.

"If you two lovebirds are finished trying to knock the house over, Eric is wanted outside. The Holmgang is starting any minute and all the contestants need to be ready. Especially last year`s winner." Egil grinned at us. "Too bad we don`t do the Holmgang the old ways because then I might have had a tiny chance at inheriting your frille, brother."

Eric laughed. "I`m sorry, Egil. Sookie needs a real man so I guess I`d better stay alive."

I slapped Eric on his arm. "Don`t talk about me like that," I scolded. Eric kissed me. "And what is Holmgang?" I asked

"In the old days, two men were taken out to the little island you saw when you first came here. They spent days out there and when they were picked up, only one was alive. He was declared the winner of the Holmgang. Unfortunately this lost us too many good men, and people didn`t even get the entertainment of the fight, so the rules were changed. Now we fight in a closed off area and the one to draw blood from the other first, wins. It is a glorious game. Of course if the Holmgang is a result of a dispute or an insult, and not just a game as today, we still do it the old-fashioned way. " Eric smiled.

"You have fought the Holmgang before?" I asked.

"Oh yes, plenty of times. But only once because of an insult." Eric seemed satisfied with himself.

"And how many of them have you won?"

Eric looked at me with a confident smile. "Why, all of them, of course! The guy who insulted me is dead, of course, but in the Holmgangs we have here, I try not to wound anyone too deeply."

He got up and walked through the room. I couldn`t help staring at his glorious butt and he knew where my eyes were and shook it a little. I got up too and forgot all my self-consciousness about walking around naked, the Viking ways were rubbing off, and went over and gave his behind a gentle slap.

"It seems you have chosen your favorite part of me," Eric said. "When I win tonight, I will let you ink it."

"Ink it?"

"Yes, make a permanent mark of ownership."

I still didn`t get what he was talking about.

"Haven`t you seen some of the men having runes on their arms or legs?" Eric explained. Then it dawned upon me. I had indeed seen tattoos on some of the guys in the village.

I nodded.

"And you will make one on me. On my butt. It will show everyone who owns it."

"You mean like branding your cows?" I teased.

"I would think `branding your prime stud` would be a better picture, but yes." He waggled his eyebrows. "I want you to know you have me like I have you."

I was touched. I had never thought a tattoo would ever make me all giddy. I had always laughed at guys running around with their wives names on their biceps and now I couldn`t help smiling at Eric offering his butt to me. It felt like an amazing gesture.

I kissed him. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Xxx

A huge area had been fenced in for the animals, but was now the area for the Holmgang. Almost 20 young men were already gathered there and when Eric jumped over the fence, everyone cheered. It was obvious that he was the star of the show.

All the men were only wearing pants. Some leather, some wool. Their upper bodies were naked and so were their feet.

Helgi was fully dressed and walked out in the middle of the ground. People quieted down as they always did when he wanted to talk.

"I welcome you all, men from two villages. Today we will have the yearly Holmgang where we will decide which man is the best of them all. As usual, the winners of each fight, will meet last year`s champion – Eric Helgison." Helgi then proceeded to recite the rules and the contestants nodded in agreement and understanding.

People yelled and screamed and Eric walked around, stretching and flexing his muscles, clearly proud of his status among the villagers. I smiled at him, but also shook my head a little.

Xxx

Some of the fights took a long time and some were over in just half an hour. All of the initial fights were over when we were summoned for dinner.

Everyone sat down at the long table, the fighters at one end and the rest of us at the other. I sat next to Eric`s mother and his kids. They were all very proud of Eric and they were broadcasting their pride so loudly, it almost blew me away.

I couldn`t help looking at Eric from time to time and every time he met my eyes and winked or smiled or both. Eric definitely was a man who embraced life and everything in it.

Eric`s father sat next to his mother and my eyes met his on their way back from looking at Eric. He smiled at me.

"I was planning on having a talk with you to see if you were the right woman for my son. I see that I don`t have to have that conversation. My son has chosen and I have rarely seen him this happy. You will definitely make my son a great frille. And you would probably have made him a good wife too, if you had had better connections." Helgi looked at his wife. "And if you weren`t so clumsy everywhere, but the bed."

He laughed loudly at his own joke, but I was mortified. Eric`s mother saw this and continued where her husband had stopped. "My son can always have a trell cook him his meals, but only Sookie can make him happy." She looked at her husband who understood he had been scolded.

"Of course, my dear wife. Of course. Eric`s happiness is what is closest to my heart. You can learn how to cook, but you can`t learn how to make someone love you."

I looked down. I was not used to the bluntness of the Vikings and even if I tried to go with the flow, I felt awkward most of the time. I knew they meant well and that was important to me, but I still felt like fine china in an elephant cage. Which was not a feeling I was used to having.

Xxx

When we came out again, the sun was setting. I did not like it one bit because night time brought out vampires. Huge torches were lit and there was a fire burning in the middle of the fighting area.

Eric walked to stand in the grass and so did the five men who had fought and won their games and were in a condition to fight more. They looked glorious in the light of the fire and they were all walking with pride.

Eric was holding his sword like it was an extension of his arm and the other men also cut various holes in the air to show how capable they were. Women screamed in joy and admiration. There was no doubt that these men would have company in bed tonight – if they survived.

Helgi came out and held his arms up high.

"When I take down my arms, you will all fight against each other. When blood is drawn from you, you will leave the fight immediately. If you are not in a position to leave the game yourself, you will be carried out. The winner is the last man standing!"

Helgi drew his arms down in a fast motion and left the ground. In a matter of minutes, Eric had made a serious cut in the shoulder of the guy standing close to him. The guy screamed for a short second and then swallowed it and walked out on unsteady legs. Women gathered around him and his wound was sewn there and then.

Steinngrim came over to stand next to me.

"He is a fine man, isn`t he?" Steinngrim said with a dreamy voice. I looked at him and followed his gaze to Eric. Then I looked back at him in wonder.

"No," he laughed. "I have never been so lucky. Eric has always preferred the fairer sex. And believe me, it has not been for the lack of offers from me."

I tried to blank my brain because I remembered what Eric had told me of Appius and what he had been forced to do with him. I didn`t want Steinngrim to know about Eric`s future.

Steinngrim looked at me, but didn`t say anything. We watched Eric making a small wound on yet another contestant and a third one was taken out in the fight between two men I didn`t know. Now they were only three men left and the two others ganged up on Eric.

Eric laughed as if this was the funniest joke he had ever heard and the audience laughed with him. Everyone, but me. I had heard something that scared me to death.

In the woods, I could hear not one, but two voids. They were watching us and my blood ran cold. How many people could two vampires take out? Would they take us all?

Steinngrim drew his breath. "What is happening Sookie? I can tell that you know that monsters are close by, but how do you know?"

I stared at the place where I could hear the vampires. I could not see them, but I knew they were there.

"You know how you can hear humans even if you don`t listen in on their thoughts?" Steinngrim nodded. "Well, I can`t hear the vampires minds, but I can hear that there is something missing where they are. The air is not normal, so to speak." I pointed in the direction of the vampires. "Try and listen over there. Do you hear something not there? As if the space was used by something, but you can`t hear what it is?"

Steinngrim focused for a few minutes and then he gasped. "Yes, I hear it. Are there two monsters?"

I nodded. "But please don`t tell anyone. I`m counting on us being too many for them to want to attack us and I don`t want anyone running off and getting themselves killed."

"You want to protect Eric." Steinngrim stated.

I nodded again.

"You can`t protect a Viking, Sookie. You will make him weak if you keep him out of fights."

"I know," I whispered. "But please let him enjoy the Holmgang. Please let everyone have fun tonight."

Steinngrim looked out over the woods again. "Maybe I should take my chance with them? At least I can hear where they are."

I clutched his hand. "You will do no such thing. One person alone does not stand a chance. And think of your children!"

Steinngrim smiled.

"You don`t understand how children here are loved and looked after by everyone? If I die, someone else will take my place and my children will want for nothing."

"But you are still their father and they will need you."

"I am not saying they won`t miss me, but children are used to death at an early age. They will accept mine too."

"You are still not going, Steinngrim, and that`s the end of that." My voice was firm and so was my grip on his arm.

"Yes, mum," he teased and we both looked back at the fight.

I kept checking in on the vampires. They were standing in the same spot all evening. Standing still until Eric was declared the winner. Then they disappeared back into the deep of the woods.

Xxxx

Eric came over to me after the fight, grabbed my hips and pulled me into his body. He kissed me deeply and he pressed his erection into me. Fighting brought out all kinds of emotions in Eric.

"Congratulations, honey," I said when I managed to pull back from the kiss.

"Thank you." He captured my mouth again and started grinding his pelvis into my stomach.

I swatted his shoulder. "Wait until we are home," I squealed.

Eric laughed. "I keep forgetting all your strange ways, your weird modesty." He kissed me again, but this time with less grinding. "And now for the inking."

He took my hand and walked me over to an elderly man with a huge white beard. Eric introduced us to each other and told him what he wanted. The man looked at me and grinned.

"You want an `S` on your butt?"

"I do. And you command the runes so I hope you would honor me with the making of her letter," he pointed at me, "on me."

The old man nodded and had Eric drop his pants. Most people would probably have pulled the pants down to reveal the butt cheeks, but Eric stood there naked in front of the man. He still had some of the erection from our kissing and I couldn`t help blushing. Eric was indeed a handsome man. His chiseled muscles, his long limbs and his .... I looked up and saw that he had caught me staring. I blushed deeper.

"Don`t be shy, my frille and lover. I like it when you take pleasure in my body. Even if it is only with your eyes."

He laid down on the old man`s table and soon the man was working with a needle and a black paste. After half an hour where I was in more pain than Eric, he had what looked like a lightning bolt on his right butt cheek. I knew it was the rune for `S` and couldn`t help being proud of it.

* * *

**A/S:**

I hope you liked Eric at the holmgang! It would have been quite a sight, huh?

* * *

**Information about holmgang from Wikipedia:**

_**Holmgang**__ (__**hólmganga**__ in __Old Norse__ and modern __Icelandic__, __**holmgång**__ in Swedish) was a __duel__ practiced by early medieval Scandinavians. It was a recognized way to settle disputes._

_Holmgang can be translated as "to go to (or walk on) a small island" or simply "island walk," perhaps a reference to the duels taking place upon a small piece of hide or cloak placed on the ground. The name may also derive from the combatants dueling on a small island or islet, as they do in the saga of __Egill Skallagrimsson__._

_At least in theory, anyone offended could challenge the other party to holmgang regardless of their differences in social status. This could be a matter of honor, ownership or property, demand of restitution or debt, legal disagreement or intention to help a wife or relative or avenge a friend._

_Holmgangs were fought 3-7 days after the challenge. Refusing the challenge would have meant that one was __niðingr__, and could have been sentenced to __outlawry__. In effect, if the other party was not willing or able to defend their claim, they had no honor. Sometimes a capable warrior could volunteer to fight in the place of a clearly outclassed friend._

We still use the word holmgang here. For instance it`s a television program where politicians discuss various things in a rather loud way. And niding, from the word niðingr, is also used for people who are without honor. And so the Vikings live on in us.

**The runes:**

Runes were considered almost holy and the ones mastering them were very high regarded. If you want to see the runes, please follow this link to Wikipedia: en . wikipedia . org/wiki/Runes

**Tattoos on Vikings:**

Tattoos have been found on Vikings and in rare cases they have been interpreted as runes. I have my doubt if the runes were the letter of a Viking`s frille, but the thought is nice, right?


	13. Chapter 13

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 13**

**A/N:**

I am so amazed with all the great reviews you are sending me. You are being really sweet!

So is **Rascalthemutant** who reads, corrects and gives me great input!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_The old man nodded and had Eric drop his pants. Most people would probably have pulled the pants down to reveal the butt cheeks, but Eric stood there naked in front of the man. He still had some of the erection from our kissing and I couldn`t help blushing. Eric was indeed a handsome man. His chiseled muscles, his long limbs and his .... I looked up and saw that he had caught me staring. I blushed deeper. _

"_Don`t be shy, my frille and lover. I like it when you take pleasure in my body. Even if it is only with your eyes."_

_He laid down on the old man`s table and soon the man was working with a needle and a black paste. After half an hour where I was in more pain than Eric, he had what looked like a lightning bolt on his right butt cheek. I knew it was the rune for `S` and couldn`t help being proud of it. _

* * *

**Chapter 13**

People were dancing and drinking when we came out of the old man`s house. I was worried someone would go into the woods during the party and was very pleased when it started raining and everyone went inside.

The party didn`t die down just because it had been moved indoors and I had a lot of fun dancing with Eric, Hrafn, Egil, Helgi and Steinngrim. Eric growled when anyone else tried to pull me to the floor and soon, nobody did.

After some hours of dancing and drinking, Eric and I tumbled back to his house. I subconsciously scanned the area for voids, but there were none. Maybe vampires went inside when it was raining too? Though, where would they go? I couldn`t imagine they would have a house here because that would make them more visible. Maybe they had a cave or a hole in the ground?

We came home and started undressing each other. We laughed and had fun in our half-drunken state. But when we were naked, we sobered up. Eric kissed me and licked me from top to toe and I did the same with him.

I stopped at his large and erect member on my way up to his face, pulled his foreskin back and took him in my mouth. Eric groaned and so did I. He felt so good, pulsating between my lips and in my hand. I could feel him growing even harder.

Then he pulled at my hips and soon he had his head between my legs too. Eric and I had done that when he lived with me back when his memory was gone and it had been one of the sexual experiences with him I had replayed most often in my mind. And now we were doing a remake of it.

Apparently being great at oral sex was not something Eric had picked up as a vampire because he was a master of it already. It was amazing. We took and we gave. When he rolled his tongue on me, I copied it on him and when I sucked, so did he. Soon we were working each other hard, both bucking our hips and making guttural sounds.

And when I came, so did he. I swallowed everything he had and he licked all I could give. We both trembled and were wet from sweat.

I fell back in the bed, totally spent and with a silly grin on my face.

Eric pulled me up to lie next to him and soon we were fast asleep.

Xxxx

It rained heavily the next day. I had always loved the sun and heavy rain made me sad and depressed. Eric would have none of that and pulled me out into the rain.

"Now is the perfect time for swimming."

Soon we were at the same place Viking Eric had seen me naked for the first time. It brought back sweet memories – and also reminded me of everything that had happened in the short amount of time since our last swim. Eric and I had grown very close and I had also come to love his family and friends. I still didn`t feel at home in the Viking age, but I certainly felt at home in Eric`s house.

The Eric I was with now was without all the politics that made life difficult with my vampire Eric. Or so I thought. When we walked back in the rain after having cleaned ourselves, and each other, Eric took my hand.

"I`m glad it rains because as long as the weather is bad, Sigbrit`s father isn`t going home and I don`t have to leave with him."

I stopped and looked at him.

"What are you saying? You have to go to Sigbrit when the weather is better?"

Eric smiled.

"Don`t worry, Sookie. I have already explained to you that Sigbrit will be no threat for you."

Normally I would have objected to Eric marrying someone else, but now I was more terrified of the idea of Eric going to visit his future wife. I knew who would wait for him on his way back.

"Why do you have to visit her? Can`t she come here?"

"Oh Sookie. I really want to do right by her and make sure she wants this marriage before I finally agree to it. I am not one to take a woman who doesn`t want me."

"And I love you for it, but…" How could I tell him what was going to happen?

"I will only be gone for a day. I`ll leave with her father and his men in the morning and be back in the evening. The village is very close by."

"Could you be back before nightfall?" I asked.

"You mean because of the monsters?" Eric thought a little. "Don`t worry about me, Sookie. I promise I will come back to you!"

I wanted to tell him not to make any promises he couldn`t keep, but then it crossed my mind that he was coming back to me. In a thousand years. Without remembering this at all.

I sighed and tried to smile.

Xxxx

Every morning I woke up to rain, I was thrilled. Rain meant another day with Eric. Rain meant that he would survive and be with me a little longer.

I made sure the time we had was spent well. We spent daytime with Eric`s children, teaching them things and showing them how loved they were. And at night-time Eric and I talked, laughed and made love.

I learned a lot about Eric and I grew to love him even more. I knew that this wasn`t the same Eric I had back home, but my Viking was definitely the core of my vampire. The essence.

Xxx

It was a glorious rain for more than a week, but then one morning I woke up to birds singing and the sun lighting up Eric`s house. A tight knot formed in my stomach and I had to struggle to smile when Eric kissed me.

I walked out to take care of some basic needs and when I came back, Eric was fully dressed and ready to go. He came over to me and gave me a long warm hug.

"You will come back before dark?" I whispered into his chest.

"I will come back to you," he answered and gave me a big kiss.

He then walked out and mounted his horse. I stood and stared at the men riding off, thinking this was the last I would see of the Eric I had been so close to these last weeks. A tear ran down my cheek when I felt a small hand in mine. I looked down and saw Hrafn.

"He loves you and will never abandon you," he said.

That made the faucets in my eyes open up and I started crying. Hrafn gave me a huge hug and his arms soothed the small of my back. When I realized I was getting soothed by a kid who was about to be orphaned, I pulled back. He looked way too mature for his age.

"How would you like for you, your sisters and I to do something fun today?"

He smiled at me and the kid came back into his eyes.

"Yay, let`s have fun."

Xxxx

We did have fun. We emptied traps, looked for fish, played hide and seek and just talked and laughed. I couldn`t help checking the sun from time to time to see how late it was and when the sun was starting to descend, the knot in my stomach returned.

Eric had promised to come back to me, but suddenly it hit me that he had never said yes when I had asked him to be home before dark.

A premonition hit me and I told the children to go to Eric`s mother and went to Eric`s house. I ran to his trunk and opened the box where he kept his silver and gasped loudly when I saw it was empty. Eric had planned on staying out in the dark, hoping to kill a vampire.

"Damned stubborn Viking," I shouted and kicked the trunk.

I was so mad I could have started a fire with my eyes and killed with my bare hands. I had known all along that Eric would be turned, but why would he jump into the arms of his killer, when I had warned him time and time again?

I grabbed a knife and a stake, put it in my belt and ran out the door. Steinngrim was right outside and I quickly told him that Eric was in trouble and I was going to try and help him. Because that was exactly what I was going to do.

I had killed Lorena for Bill. Bill who had betrayed me so deeply. Bill who had taken my heart out of my chest and waltzed all over it. I had risked my life for him. I loved Eric with all my heart. Of course I would try and kill Appius for him. With him.

I knew Claude had said that I could not change fate. That the course of history would be the same no matter what I did. But I couldn`t be sure. Claude could have misunderstood something or it was all a big mistake.

I had to try and save Eric. I had to help him even if it cost me my own life.

Steinngrim looked shocked, but then he nodded. I told him no when he was thinking we would join me. "I have to do this by myself." I didn`t want to make more children fatherless.

I ran out onto the road Eric had ridden away on. It was getting darker, but the moon was almost full and the stars were bright. I ran as fast as I could on the narrow path, not knowing how far away Sigbrit`s village was and not knowing where Appius would be waiting for Eric.

I ran through the forest and crossed the river. I ran over a hill and through pastures. Suddenly I felt the void of a vampire ahead of me. I slowed down and tried to sneak up closer, hiding behind some huge rocks. I knew the vampire would be able to hear me if I made the slightest noise and my heartbeat and breathing would probably be more than enough for him to detect me.

But I walked as quietly as I could and was pleased when the vampire didn`t move. I came closer and then I saw two bodies. I froze. The vampire was bent over a human lying on the ground – and I knew all too well who that human was.

I wanted to yell at Eric, to get him to stand up and fight, but I knew it was too late. I couldn`t read any brainwaves from him. My lovely Eric was dead.

Tears ran down my cheeks and I cursed the fact that I was late. Maybe Eric and I could have handled Appius if we had combined our forces? His strength and my telepathy.

The vampire sat up.

"You are crying for your man?" he asked mockingly.

"Yes, I am..." I paused. "…Appius."

Suddenly I had the vampire next to me, staring at my face. "How do you know my name?"

"I know you name just as I know you are a vampire. I also know how much you hate people calling you by your first name. Appius." I spat out the name deliberately loud.

He was shocked and I used his confusion to push my knife into him. He yelled loudly, but I had only wounded him. I grabbed my stake and went for his heart, but this time he knew what was coming and knocked it out of my hand.

He grabbed me by my neck and pulled me up. I lost the ground under my feet and hung dangling from his hand.

"What are you?" He hissed.

"Wouldn`t you like to know?" I answered. "But to you, I`m his lover and love." I pointed awkwardly at Eric. "And I hope to be your killer."

He laughed. "I would almost like to keep you just to be able to break that wonderful spirit of yours, but I have already made that handsome warrior my child." He pointed at Eric. "And I don`t want the bother of two newborns at the same time."

I tried to kick him, but he shook me so hard it felt as if my teeth changed places in my mouth.

"But I have a splendid idea. My new child will need a lot of blood when he wakes up in three days and it would be just great to see him take it out of the girl he loves." He looked at me. "I`ve seen you two from a distance, you know, and it was beautiful. If I had been a romantic at all, I would have been touched. As it happens, I`m more into pain, other people`s pain that is, and I`m looking so much forward to seeing my newborn child`s pain when he realizes who his first victim is going to be."

I shuddered. Not because of his words, though cruel they were, but because of the neutral tone of voice he said them in. It was as if he was reciting a shopping list. I tried to kick him again, but my legs were too short. And when he hit my head, I was out cold.

Xxxxx

I woke up in a haze and couldn`t see anything. But I heard two voices, Appius and a female voice I didn`t know.

"You could turn her. There is something about her. She knew my name and the fact that I`m a vampire." Appius said.

"She would probably make a wonderful child, but you know I prefer men, just like you, and I have already picked my victim."

"Never mind. She will be a nice bloodbag for my new child instead. I mean, we can`t turn them all, can we?" Appius said and laughed. The female vamp laughed with him and I was out cold again.

Xxxx

When I woke up again it seemed as if I had been gone for a long time. My head hurt less and I was more coherent. I groaned slightly and heard a familiar voice saying "Sookie". I opened my eyes and looked into Eric`s and screamed. He was pale and I could see fangs in his mouth.

And I was out again. It was becoming a bad habit.

* * *

**A/N:**

I am so sorry, I just had to leave you with this cliffhanger. And I won`t be able to post again until next week because I`m spending my weekend at my internet-free cabin. Oh, I am evil – and I didn`t even mean to.

I hope you liked this. The story is far from over yet :-D


	14. Chapter 14

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 14**

**A/N:**

Back from the cabin and posting quickly before bedtime. Unfortunately, I had to choose between posting today and not answering your great reviews or posting tomorrow and answering you. Well, you can see what I chose. I read them your reviews on my phone and I loved each and every one of them. Thank you!

I also want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for reading and correcting this chapter and for our great talks about time travelling and changing history. And I want to thank **Peppermintyrose** for the same talks and for being superfast when I ask her about names I forget. She is the SVM-encyclopedia and I really recommend her stories if you want more insight in the SVM-universe.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_When I woke up again it seemed as if I had been gone for a long time. My head hurt less and I was more coherent. I groaned slightly and heard a familiar voice saying "Sookie". I opened my eyes and looked into Eric`s and screamed. He was pale and I could see fangs in his mouth._

_And I was out again. It was becoming a bad habit. _

* * *

**Chapter 14**

"Sookie," I heard Eric whisper into my ear. It sounded so tender, so sweet, I opened my eyes slightly.

It was Eric and he was a vampire, but I wasn`t lying on the ground and I wasn`t wearing a linen dress. I was in my bed and wearing my own pajamas. Eric sported a Fangtasia t-shirt (`Bite me` it said) and I sincerely doubted they produced those in the Viking age.

"Eric!" I yelled and threw my arms around his neck and hugged him close. For a short moment I thought it had all been a dream. The going back in time, the raid, the boat trip, the village, the bathing in the stream, the kids, the parents, the holmgang…. the turning. In short – Eric the Viking.

"Sookie, where have you been?"

I looked at Eric. "What do you mean?" I whispered. "Have I been gone?"

Eric sat up. "You don`t remember that you`ve been gone? What happened to you?"

I was quiet for a moment, contemplating what to say. I had no idea what had happened while I was gone or for how long I had been away from the present. I figured I needed information before I could give any.

"Tell me first what it seemed like from here. How long was I gone?"

"What do you mean `from here`?"

I made a motion for him to answer my question.

"Suddenly one night I couldn`t feel you through the bond anymore and I came to investigate and found your house empty. Your bed wasn`t made, and you always make your bed before you leave your house. But there was no sign of a struggle, and you would definitely struggle."

Eric`s index finger and thumb held my chin softly.

"You were gone a full month, Sookie. I searched for you everywhere and so did Pam, Bill and Sam. Even your brother tried to help out. And we had Amelia come back to arrange an ectoplasmic reconstruction, but all we got was an eerie movie of you disappearing from your bed."

"Disappearing?" I asked.

"Yes, poof." He snapped his fingers.

"And then what?"

"And then I figured fairies were involved. We had some vague reports about rough fairies on the loose, but they had not been here or I would have smelled them. Niall is not in this world anymore and the only other fairy I knew of, Claude, avoided me like the bubonic plague."

My eyes must have widened at the mentioning of Claude because Eric gave me an interrogating look.

"Did Claude have anything to do with this? I thought he was a total moron."

"He is my cousin," I reminded him.

"Yes, and apart from Niall, it seems your smartest family members are the female ones. Like your grandmother and Claudine…" He soon ran out of family members.

"And Hadley?" I tried to help.

"Well, maybe not Hadley."

"So no one could tell you where I was?" I asked.

"No. And it wasn`t due to me not trying to get answers. I was getting desperate and I`m never desperate." Eric actually looked rather desperate at the moment.

"You were?" I couldn`t help myself asking.

"Of course I was. I was enjoying all the time we spent together and suddenly you were gone. I missed you." He sighed an unnecessary sigh.

I smiled a little.

"And when I suspected foul play…" Eric sat as still as only a vampire could.

We were both quiet for quite a while. Then I remembered something.

"What about Felipe de Castro and Victor Madden? I mean, if I was gone for a month, they would have noticed?"

"We were lucky at first. They were both away and it wasn`t until a week ago when Victor wanted your services, we had to get creative. Luckily Bill is quite the liar and he convinced them that you were on some kind of vacation to settle your nerves. He may have exaggerated you frailty, but it was all for a good cause."

"So you and Bill are friends now?"

"No, but I am willing to combine forces with him if it can bring you home to me. I couldn`t involve too many of my people because it could have endangered them. I also had to be sure I could trust everyone I involved and even if Bill hasn`t been the most trustworthy person, he does seem to want to make up for some of his missteps towards you."

"Did Amelia go back to New Orleans after the ectoplasmic reconstruction?"

"Yes, I believe this house awoke some bad memories in her. I`m sorry." Eric`s hand went from my chin and rested on my cheek, his fingers caressing my temple.

"I know," I said, my voice suddenly very thick.

"But she wanted to help me. To help you. She is a good friend, I believe."

"Yes, I believe so too."

Again we had a pause where no one said anything. Then Eric rolled over slightly to get a more direct view of my face.

"What did happen to you, Sookie?" he asked. "Your smell is … I can`t place it, but I`ve smelled it before." He sniffed my hair and my neck. "And there is a little hint of vampire. Were you abducted by a vampire, Sookie?"

I shook my head. "No. No, not really."

"Then what happened?"

I had an inner debate for a few minutes and then I found out there was something I had to get straight before I answered any questions. Had I altered anything in the present by my travel back in time?

"Eric. First I need you to do something for me. I want you to describe what went through your brain the first time you saw me."

Eric`s face was without emotion, but I knew him well enough to understand that he had all kinds of thoughts running through his brain.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked in a neutral tone.

"Please just humor me."

"My first thought was that you looked out of place. You weren`t wearing black, like the fangbangers, and you had an air of innocence, I rarely see. Of course, later I found out just how innocent you were," he groaned at the thought.

"Yes, but did you recognize me?"

"Recognize you? No, you came with Bill Compton so I figured you were fresh meat he had dug up in his attempts at mainstreaming. I couldn`t understand why he would take you to Fangtasia, though. Not until you explained it."

"But you hadn`t seen me before? Maybe a long time ago?"

"When you were a child? I don`t think so, Sookie. When you were a kid, I didn`t meet many humans and definitely not any children. And Pam would have remembered you. Her vault, you know." He pointed to his temples.

"I wasn`t thinking of Pam. Just you."

Eric looked as if he was going through all corners of his brain.

"No, I`m sure, Sookie. I`d never seen you before that beautiful night when you entered Fangtasia and fell in love with me." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"I fell in love with you?" I squealed. "I think you may have it reversed. I thought you were a pompous ass whereas you started your pursuit of me almost from the minute you laid eyes on me."

"But of course. You were a refreshing sight. And later I found out what you had inside that voluptuous body of yours." Eric`s hand stroked my hair back and travelled down to my chest. He didn`t touch my breasts, but laid his flat hand over my heart.

"So no faint notions that I reminded you of someone?"

"You definitely didn`t remind me of anyone. Vampires never meet girls like you, you know."

"And from before you were a vampire?"

"You mean if you reminded me of my mother or something," Eric laughed.

"Or something."

"Well, my mother was short and blond and she was also compassionate and smart, like you, but I can`t say I think you remind me of her."

"And other people?"

Eric paused.

"Well, Aude was very dark, in colors and in mind, so you are almost her opposite. And my sisters… no, Sookie I fell in love with you because you were you, not because you reminded me of anyone."

I drew a sharp breath. Eric had never used the `L`-word before. I had assumed he loved me for some time, but it was something else entirely to have it vocalized.

Eric saw my reaction and bent over and kissed me gently.

"Why do you ask, Sookie?" he whispered, but I just pulled him down to another kiss.

I asked because I wanted to know if Claude was right. As much as I would have loved to have shared my wonderful memories of the last month with the guy who had been there with me, I didn`t want to have changed even the tiniest bit of the past because it could have led to huge changes in the present. The butterfly effect and all that.

I also didn`t want Eric to have noticed me in Fangtasia only because I stirred his memory. Yes, I was being vain, but I wanted to be noticed for me, for who I was now, not for what I was to the Viking a thousand years ago.

So I was pleased that Eric Northman of Shreveport, Louisiana was interested in Sookie Stackhouse of Bon Temps, Louisiana because Sookie Stackhouse was …. well, appealing in some way. I didn`t want to be chosen because of my telepathy or my fairy blood and I certainly didn`t want to be chosen because of a vague memory.

We kissed for some time. It was a bit strange for me to kiss Eric`s cold lips after having kissed the same lips, only warm, just a day ago. But at the same time, his cold lips felt like home. Those lips were what I wanted to kiss, what I was supposed to kiss.

No, Eric didn`t have the body heat and no, I would never see him in the bright sun. But he was the one I had fallen in love with and the one I truly loved. Wishing to have Viking Eric again would be like wishing to have your 40-year-old husband as he was when he was 18. You would get the great body, but you would miss out on all the experience, knowledge and understanding he had gathered throughout the years.

Viking Eric was as hot as my Eric, and his body was definitely warmer, but he was only my Eric in a very early stage. The second I saw Eric, I knew which of them I would prefer if they were lined up and I was to make a choice.

Eric`s mouth left mine and kissed my neck and nibbled at my earlobe while his hand lifted my pajamas top. He tugged at it and before I knew what had happened, he had it over my head and on the floor.

His lovely lips made their way down my chest and settled on one of my breasts while his hand sneaked under the elastic band of my pajama pants and my panties. I spread my legs without even thinking it over and Eric growled as his fingers found their rhythm in the area they knew so well.

I pulled at his t-shirt.

"You are wearing too many clothes, Eric."

Eric sat back his knees, his butt on the heel of his feet.

"You don`t know how much I`ve missed hearing you say that," he said in a very emotional voice. He pulled off his t-shirt and I took a small moment to admire his chest. Apart from the color, this was the exact chest he had had when he was human. Being turned had really kept him in a frozen state.

Eric was about to lean back into a kiss, when I held him back, pointing at his legs.

"Your pants too," I said smiling.

In response I got something I had definitely not had in a long time; a wonderful and sexy smile with fully extended fangs.

"You say the sweetest things, my lover."

I stepped out of my bed to take off my pajama pants, naked skin was what I wanted now. When I was wearing nothing, I went over to Eric and embraced him from behind. I kissed his spine and worked my way down to his butt.

Then my eyes fell on something on his behind, or rather something not there. I gasped slightly. The tattoo was gone. Claude had been absolutely right. Nothing had changed. I had been looked after by Eric, he protected me from some mean fairies, but when I left, history had been restored to what it had been before I travelled back in time.

I felt relief wash over me to see that very visible sign of things being the way they should be. It gave me comfort that I had come back to the exact same world I had left. Of course, it had been the sweetest gesture when he had the tattoo made, and I would have loved to have had it as an eternal reminder of the happy days I had spent with Viking Eric. But now it was proof I hadn`t accidentally altered history.

"I see you still hold my behind as your favorite body part?" Eric smiled and turned around in my arms.

He lifted me up and hugged me close to him. Our cheeks were at each other`s necks and we just enjoyed being close for a few moments.

Then he carried me to my bed and carefully placed me in the middle.

"Are you ok with this?" he asked. "I mean, if you have been through some kind of trauma?"

"Eric, I`m very ok with it," I answered and pulled him down for a kiss.

We kissed and tasted each other while our hands were touching each other`s body. Eric slowly moved himself downwards, while kissing every inch of me, and soon he came to the promised land, making me spread wide open and moan at contact.

He licked and sucked and used his fingers so perfectly well. I was on an upwards spiral and when I came to the top, Eric threw me over by biting into the vein in my thigh. I screamed in pleasure and Eric grunted with me. I suddenly remembered how long it had been since this Eric had seen me orgasm. It hadn`t happened since before my abduction by the fairies.

Eric looked mighty pleased with himself, but then the look on his face changed totally. He stared at me with worry written all over it.

"Were you raped, Sookie?"

* * *

**A/N:**

I know, I know. A lot of you wanted to stay in the Viking age and most of you wanted Eric to keep his tattoo. Well, that just wasn`t in the cards. Sorry. The story was outlined from start to finish (at least in my head) before I even started writing and I try to stay with my original plans.

I hope you still liked the chapter. This story is far from over!

I am flying high right now. Last week I won the Naughty or Nice contest with the **Dust Bunnies and Christmas Presents** (as I have already bragged about *rolls eyes at self*) and on Thursday my **Dead without a Work Permit** had its review number 1000. And tonight I came back from my cabin to see that this story has over 950 reviews. I don`t have word apart from: Thank you all *kisses*.


	15. Chapter 15

**Dead with the Vikings**

**A/N:**

I got almost 100 reviews from you guys, wondering what the next chapter would bring. I only have about half a chapter betaed, but it will give you at least one answer. So at the spur of the moment, and without getting back to all the great reviews, I decided to post it now. I hope you understand why it`s so embarrassingly short.

Thank you so much to Rascalthemutant for reading this and correcting my mistakes – and for telling me to just go ahead and post this.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_He licked and sucked and used his fingers so perfectly well. I was on an upwards spiral and when I came to the top, Eric threw me over by biting into the vein in my thigh. I screamed in pleasure and Eric grunted with me. I suddenly remembered how long it had been since this Eric had seen me orgasm. It hadn`t happened since before my abduction by the fairies. _

_Eric looked mighty pleased with himself, but then the look on his face changed totally. He looked down at me with worry written all over it._

"_Were you raped, Sookie?"_

* * *

**Chapter 15**

I gaped.

"No?" I answered tentatively. "Why do you ask?"

Eric pulled away and his face was like cut in stone. He didn`t answer my question, he just stared at me. That made me angry. I had just had a great time and his reaction was to ask me if I had been raped?

I sat up.

"What, Eric? You think I had to be raped to get my orgasms back? Is that it? What the hell is wrong with you?"

I got out of bed and put on my bathrobe. I was not having this discussion naked.

Eric was quiet for quite some time. He didn`t move a muscle and of course I couldn`t hear what he was thinking, so I was completely at a loss here. I huffed and started to leave the room.

"It wasn`t your orgasm that made me ask," Eric said in a low tone, almost growling.

I turned around, one hand on my hip.

"Then what? What in my actions tonight made you suddenly think I had been raped?"

In vampire speed Eric was next to me, staring at me, at my face.

"You are pregnant," he spat out. "I could taste it in your blood." He paused slightly. "And if you weren`t raped, it would mean that you…."

"What? No, you`re wrong, Eric." Eric shook his head. "NO!" I yelled at him. "NO! I can`t be pregnant."

Eric didn`t say anything. He just waited for me to proceed.

"Claude said… your tattoo… no…" My legs started to buckle and I fell to my knees. Eric could have caught me if he had wanted to, but apparently he didn`t.

"I do not have a tattoo, Sookie. And what did Claude say?" Eric`s voice was icy cold. I cringed.

A few moments passed. My mind couldn`t wrap itself around this. First I couldn`t process how it could have even happened. Of course I knew the how, as in a very human Eric and I having unprotected sex, but how could I be pregnant? I was not supposed to change anything and this was a huge change.

Then I kicked myself for not considering the risk of pregnancy when I was humping Eric like an Energizer bunny. What had I been thinking? No, they didn`t have condoms back then, but did I have to have sex with Eric? I of course knew the answer to that one, but I was still angry with myself.

And then the thought of bringing a child into my world, hit me full force and I wrapped my arms around my waist and hugged myself while making some kind of animalistic sound of despair.

Eric lifted me up and laid me on my bed and himself next to me.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice softer than it had been a moment ago.

I couldn`t answer. Tears ran down my cheeks. I couldn`t have a child. Not now. Not in my life. I was having trouble keeping Hunter hidden, but with my own child, that would not be an option.

My own child. I tasted the words. I had always wanted a family, children, but I had given up on the thought years ago. And now it was here, my child, a baby growing inside me. I looked at Eric. My child with Eric. Because that was what it was. My child did not have some random lover for a father.

"It`s your child," I whispered.

Xxxx

Eric pulled back.

"I cannot have children," he said, the icy tone back. "As you well know, Sookie."

I sighed. I couldn`t bear his hostility. Not now.

"Trust me, Eric. It is." I put all my sincerity into my voice and it apparently had some weight with him because it made him study me closer.

"How?" Was all he said.

Yes, how? I didn`t even know myself, but I figured I had to explain what I knew.

"I was sent back to when you were human, to your village. Niall wanted to protect me from fairies he was afraid would attack me. I`m not really sure because all I got was a very vague message from Claude. But he apparently thought you would protect me best when you were human."

"Niall is a fool. I could have protected you here and it would have caused everyone so much less grief."

"Yeah, we saw just how well that went the last time," I said before my brain kicked in. "I`m sorry," I whispered. "That was out of line."

Eric`s eyes were like a Scandinavian winter, cold and dark. "And you slept with … me?"

"What can I say? You are irresistible," I tried to lighten the mood.

"Not funny."

I sighed. I had had it.

"Fuck you, Eric Northman. Yes, I slept with you in your human state, but it was you. Your flesh, your body, your mind. I did not cheat on you and I will not feel guilty about it." I was at loss. How could I explain it to Eric? Then I had an idea. "Think of it like when I had sex with you when you lost your memory. I wasn`t cheating on you then, was I?"

"We weren`t dating."

I sat up.

"For crying out loud, Eric. You know what I mean. You are being ridiculous and you know it. I was not cheating on you and you can`t be jealous of yourself. End of story." I took a deep breath. "Now can we get down to the important part of this? Swallow that green monster of yours and tell me what we do now. I mean, having a kid is obviously the road to disaster so how do we handle this?"

I said `we`, hoping it was the correct personal noun under the circumstances.

Eric`s face went through all kinds of moods, but ended up with a rather tender look. He pulled me into an embrace.

"I have no idea, but I will find out," he said and I released a breath I didn`t know I was holding.

* * *

**A/N:**

Ever since this story started out, I have been getting questions about pregnancy. I had planned on Eric getting Sookie pregnant all along, but I must admit that I started to question myself when so many of you asked me for it. Would my story be boring to you when there was no surprise?

I still have something up my sleeve, though. As you may have noticed – this is not a story where Sookie starts knitting little baby socks. Or rather, she may start knitting at some point, but definitely not yet.


	16. Chapter 16

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 16**

**A/N:**

You ladies (and gentlemen?) are officially crazy :-D . You sent me 120 reviews for the sorry excuse of a chapter I posted for you on Monday. And I REALLY love you for it. Unfortunately I had to stop answering the reviews at some point to get this posted - so here is a huge KISS for you all.

This time you get a real chapter!

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for being such a fast, patient and great beta and to **Peppermintyrose** for the invaluable suggestions.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_I sat up._

"_For crying out loud, Eric. You know what I mean. You are being ridiculous and you know it. I was not cheating on you and you can`t be jealous of yourself. End of story." I took a deep breath. "Now can we get down to the important part of this? Swallow that green monster of yours and tell me what we do now. I mean, having a kid is obviously the road to disaster so how do we handle this?"_

_I said `we`, hoping it was the correct personal noun under the circumstances. _

_Eric`s face went through all kinds of moods, but ended up with a rather tender look. He pulled me into an embrace._

"_I have no idea, but I will find out," he said and I released a breath I didn`t know I was holding. _

* * *

**Chapter 16**

We lay there for some time, both on our backs, but holding hands and with our fingers laced tightly together. I wasn`t sure who had taken the other one`s hand, maybe we both felt the need for this little closeness.

"Do you want me to tell you what happened?" I finally asked.

"I would like that," he answered in a neutral voice, so I proceeded to tell him about me waking up in a convent and meeting his human version for the first time. I told him about the trip over the ocean, the dream Niall sent him and how he had declared me his frille.

Eric turned his head and looked at me. "I always had great taste," he smiled vaguely and even that little curl of his lips made me warm inside.

I told him about Ragnhild and gave him a side-glance when I did. It was silly to be jealous of a woman who had been dead a 1000 years, but I was still curious.

"Yes, I vaguely remember her. I think actually I turned her down coming back from that raid even when you weren`t with me. Being separated from her did me a lot of good."

I smiled to myself and told him about his mother and his children and how embarrassed I had been when his brother had turned up when we were bathing. That earned me a real smile and I continued to tell him of all the other times I had blushed because of members of his family – or him.

I turned over on my side and tried to read his face.

"Is it painful for you when I talk about your family, your children?" I almost whispered.

He thought it over. "No. I missed my children and the rest of my family for a long time, but it has been so many years ago now, so many deaths, I`m just happy to have my memories of them refreshed."

So I continued telling him about our life together in the past he would never be able to recall because it for some reason never happened to him. I told him about his sweet children, his wise but nosy mother and his impressive father. Eric seemed to like my descriptions.

I skipped the sex parts, but I was sure Eric knew just when they took place.

I told him about the vampires moving in on the village, assessing him and killing Ragnhild.

"Ragnhild was killed by vampires?" Eric was genuinely surprised. "She just disappeared and we all figured she had been taken by wolves or bears. We looked for her for a long time to make sure she wasn`t hurt somewhere in the woods."

"I guess you never saw any of the vampires before you were attacked and turned, then?"

"No, I didn`t. I never even knew of vampires. But Appius did tell me that they had kept an eye on our village and a few of the close-by ones and that I was picked out – I was chosen by him."

"I suppose he wanted the strongest warrior?"

"I suppose so," Eric said out in the darkness.

When I came to the part where he was riding off to visit Sigbrit, Eric stopped me and thought for a moment.

"I wasn`t going to marry Sigbrit. It was her sister Liv who was going to be my bride."

We looked at each other for some minutes.

"I guess it makes sense, somehow," I finally said, even if none of it really made any kind of sense to me. "I think their father changed sisters because of me in that parallel universe, or whatever it was where I met you."

"Really?" Eric asked.

I nodded.

Eric pulled me closer. "I wish I could remember these things. I wish I could have been there and not some kind of parallel me."

"Yeah, but imagine the consequences if I had gone back and changed history?"

Eric kissed my forehead. "I know."

We lay in silence for a while, kissing chastely and holding hands. I really wanted to ask him what he was thinking. What he was feeling. I looked him in the eyes and was gathering courage, but just as I was going to ask, he opened his mouth.

"I always said you would be the death of me. Now at least it will be because of something important to you."

A tear ran down my cheek. Eric wiped it away.

"And you know how I feel about you crying," he said and gave a sweet kiss.

"You`ll just have to bring me a shirt I can ruin, then." I smiled.

Xxxx

We cuddled for some time, then Eric pulled back and got up. He picked up his trousers, but instead of putting them on, he retrieved his phone from one of the pockets.

"Yes," he answered. He was silent for some time, apparently listening to whatever the person on the other end said. "You can tell Victor we will be there in an hour or so, Pam," he then said and hung up.

I sat up in bed, the sheets pulled up around me. Eric stood next to the bed, not bothered by his naked state. Knowing where he came from, I could see why. And it wasn`t as if I was complaining about the view.

"I know you are probably tired, but it is imperative for Victor to see you tonight. Take a quick shower and we`ll be off," he said while leaning over to give me a kiss. "We`ll talk later."

Xxxx

I did take a quick shower. I was hoping for Eric to join me, but he was making a lot of phone calls instead.

As soon we were in Eric`s car, he started driving his usual bat out of hell style. I should have been used to it by now, but for the first time it actually made me a little queasy. I knew I should have eaten before we left, but we had been too busy getting out the door. So I swallowed and stared out at whatever Eric`s front lights caught.

After some time I noticed that Eric had actually slowed down his driving.

None of us said anything. I knew we had to talk about the baby I was carrying, according to my own personal pregnancy test. And he probably knew too. But first we had to deal with Victor Madden.

"You are not going to tell Victor about…" I asked. Apparently I couldn`t say the word `baby`.

Eric glanced at me. "No. That would definitely not be wise." He looked out at the road again. "I will find a solution, Sookie, but you may have to move from Bon Temps."

Ok, so we were having the conversation now.

"Where would I have to move to?" I asked, trying to be calm about giving up my childhood home.

"I`m not sure yet, but that is what I am trying to find out." He glanced at me again. "Of course, to Victor you are not pregnant and you are staying in your house forever."

"Of course," I answered. Then with a lower voice. "What about you?"

Eric was silent for a very long time.

"If I can find a way to be close to you without endangering you or the baby, I will," he finally said while taking my hand in his. I noticed that he said `the` baby. Not `our` baby, but also not `your` baby. I settled for `the` for the time being.

"I don`t want you to put yourself in danger."

Eric gave me a mischievous smile. "Oh, I have been in danger since I laid my eyes on you." Then he pulled my hand to his mouth. "And as you now know, I have risked my life since I was born. And yet, here I am."

"Yes, here you are."

Xxxx

It looked as if it was 70s night when we entered Fangtasia. I couldn`t help giggling when I looked around and saw everyone dressed in black versions of disco suits and revealing dresses. The vampires wore outfits that were probably bought back when they were in fashion and the humans wore poor copies. Which was fitting since most vampires looked at humans as less than perfect versions of themselves.

Eric gave me a hard look. "Pam`s idea," he just said and I stifled any laughter I may or may not have had to offer.

The DJ put on Kiss and `I was Made for Loving You, Baby`, when we sat down in the booth Eric usually used. Victor was already there, sipping a blood. He nodded to Eric and gave me a crooked smile.

"So nice to see you again, Miss Stackhouse. I trust you are well?"

Eric and I had not discussed what to say to Victor Madden. I figured I would have to play along with the story already being told about me being frail and having been away to regain my strength.

"Yes, I`m much better now," I smiled. Eric had his arm around my shoulders and I cuddled into his embrace. I wanted Victor to know that Eric and I were inseparable even if I had been away. Eric apparently agreed on my choice and pulled me even closer. I placed one hand on his lap.

Pam came over to us, wearing a shiny, black flyboy suit, tight over her hips and chest and with the zipper way down.

"Nice outfit, Pam," I stated before she could say anything.

"Thank you," she smiled. "And I see that someone forgot to tell you about tonight`s theme." She looked at Eric`s clothes. "Maybe you didn`t read the memo?"

Eric growled.

The `70s theme was obviously not his idea, but it had me wondering what Pam and Eric were doing in the `70s. Eric had told Bill at one point that he had gone to community college, but I had no idea if it was the truth. It struck me how much past Eric had and how lucky I had been to have seen a little of it.

"Can I get you something to drink, Sookie?" Pam asked. I was wondering why she was being our waitress, but when I saw her smile, I understood it was her way of saying she had missed me. Or at least that was what I thought. With Pam you never really knew.

"A glass of orange juice would be lovely."

Pam looked surprised for a tenth of a second, but walked away without saying anything. Victor looked from Pam to me. She came back with the glass instantly.

"I seem to remember your drink of choice was gin and tonic?" Victor asked after I had started sipping my drink through the straw.

"Yes, but I have stopped drinking. I`m trying to live a healthier life," I said. If he thought I had been on rehab and was now working my twelve steps, I didn`t mind. "Well, as healthy a life as one can live close to you guys," I joked.

My hand worked its way up Eric`s thigh. I hadn`t even noticed until Eric stiffened slightly. That is, one part of him stiffened more than slightly. My hand had covered his zipper and I felt well leaving it there.

I tried to tell myself that this was my way of showing Victor that I was still Eric`s, but deep down I had to admit that there was also a part of me who wanted revenge for all the times I had been half-naked in front of Eric`s mortal family. I had to smile at my own silliness, but it didn`t make me remove my hand.

"Vampires have not been to blame for all the injuries you have suffered?" Victor asked as a rhetorical question.

"No, I suppose humans have done most of the damage to my body." I didn`t mention the fairies because that was a part of me Victor Madden knew nothing about. And I didn`t mention damages to my heart, because vampires had definitely been the guilty parties there.

"And now you have a mighty vampire bonded?" Victor asked and I nodded. "And of course a great protector in Felipe de Castro. You are indeed a lucky woman." I didn`t quite agree with him on the part about Felipe de Castro, but I nodded again.

Victor leaned over the table and I gave Eric a squeeze. In a side-glance I could see Eric`s eyes widen slightly.

"Felipe would love your company in Las Vegas, Sookie. You should have told him you needed a break and he would have worked out something for you. A nice vacation at one of his casinos, for instance."

Eric`s hand came on top of mine, trying to push it down his thigh, but I folded my fingers around his erection and moved them a little.

"You will have to ask Felipe to forgive me, but the need for a vacation came very suddenly. To tell you the truth, Victor, I had a little nervous breakdown and have received treatments while I was gone."

"I can assure you that we have very capable doctors in Las Vegas too."

"Of course you do, but I had to see one who was a specialist in telepathy since my ability was disappearing as a result of my …" I never got any further. My little lie had been swallowed hook, line and sinker. Even Eric straightened up, but that might have been my hand`s doing. I had started to move it up and down on him.

"Your telepathy vanished?"

"No, no. Not vanished. It was just harder for me to read people. So Eric here suggested a little break away and he even knew the names of a few doctors who helped me immensely."

"So you are better now?"

"Oh yes, I`m myself again, thanks to Eric." `I`m myself and have a bun in the oven, thanks to Eric as well`, I thought.

I worked Eric`s erection a little more and it seemed Victor finally caught up on what was happening under the table. He sent me a sly grin.

"I am so happy to see that the bond has grown on you. You two look perfectly happy together."

I smiled my 1000 Watt smile and Eric finally got hold of the hand I had on his crotch. He weaved his fingers into mine and made an unnecessary cough. I smiled – Stackhouse vs. Northman 1-0.

Victor was about to continue talking, when I stopped him and turned to Eric. I figured it was time to show Victor just how well my telepathy was working now after my `nervous breakdown`.

"Honey," I said to Eric and giggled inside when his eyebrows almost met his hairline. "That girl over there," I pointed at a sweet little redhead who had just entered Fangtasia, "is only 17 and she is making mental flip-flops because the doorman didn`t catch her fake ID."

Eric motioned to Pam who came over and I turned my attention back to Victor. Pam was instructed to get the girl out discreetly and we all sat quietly and watched her talking to the girl and the two of them walking outside together.

"I can see you are valuable to your bonded," Victor said.

"She is," Eric stated.

I was under the assumption that Victor had some kind of job for me, but was very pleased when he got up and took his leave.

When Victor was out the door, Eric looked at me and I blushed. It suddenly hit me what I had done to him in public. Eric smiled and I knew that my blush gave him a point, which made it 1-1.

"I liked the way you were thinking just now, but maybe you would want to continue in a place that can offer a little more privacy?" That made me blush even harder.

"Privacy would be good," I answered, trying to keep eye contact, but failing miserably. You just don`t play dare with a 1000-year-old Viking.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter!

And now Norway just got her first gold in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver! Yay! *buys a beer for all the readers*

**BTW** I`m on Twitter as Thyra10. You are also very welcome to join the fun at the **Alexander Skarsgard Library Forum** where I yap everyone`s ear off as **Nordanswede**.


	17. Chapter 17

**Dead with the Vikings – chapter 17**

**A/N:**

Again I just want to thank you for all your great reviews and PMs. So sweet, but also very surprising. I love all the talks I`ve had with a couple of you.

Thank you for the incredible help and support I get from my beta **Rascalthemutant**. I also want to thank **Peppermintyrose** for all her great suggestions and insights. She has a new fic out now where Sookie discusses the bond. Read, read, read: www . fanfiction . net/s/5761917/1/Thrall

And happy birthday to **LaniLani**. I hope you have a great day, sweetheart! And I hope this chapter can be a little birthday present :-D

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_When Victor was out the door, Eric looked at me and I blushed. It suddenly hit me what I had done to him in public. Eric smiled and I knew that my blush gave him a point, which made it 1-1. _

"_I liked the way you were thinking just now, but maybe you would want to continue in a place that can offer a little more privacy?" That made me blush even harder._

"_Privacy would be good," I answered, trying to keep eye contact, but failing miserably. You just don`t play dare with a 1000-year-old Viking._

* * *

**Chapter 17**

If Eric had driven at a close to normal speed going to Fangtasia, he was making up for it going back. The bat out of hell was wearing a jet engine and we were in Bon Temps in no time.

A stop at Piggly Wiggly on the way made Eric growl slightly, but I had to have food in my house. I hadn`t even checked my refrigerator, but feared its contents.

"Maybe we should get some blood too," Eric said when we entered through the sliding doors.

"I always have blood in my house." I was almost annoyed that he questioned my hosting skills. Then realization hit me. I looked up at Eric. "You don`t want to take my blood anymore."

"Oh, I want your blood. But I will take less now."

I nodded and was a little touched.

I wondered for a few seconds if I should buy a pregnancy test just to be sure, but I turned the idea down pretty quickly. Eric wouldn`t have made all this fuss if he wasn`t sure. Actually, he wasn`t making that much of a fuss. He was his cool and collected self again and I liked that. Jealousy was not a part of him I enjoyed and I was glad to see it gone.

I bought the food for me and the blood for Eric. Eric and I had a short exchange of words before we agreed on who was paying. It was my food and the blood was for me to be hospitable, so I told Eric he could put his wallet back into his pocket. Eric had a smirk on his lips I couldn`t really decipher, but I got what I wanted and was pleased.

Deep down I knew it was silly. Eric and I were having a child together so at some point we would have to discuss the financial side of it. I was definitely not born with a silver spoon in my mouth and wasn`t sure how I would manage to save up money for maternity leave and hospital bills. But for the time being, I wanted things to stay the way they were. And that meant me paying for my own food.

Back at the house it suddenly got awkward. I had wanted Eric since I felt him up at Fangtasia. No, ever since he gave me an orgasm and then tasted my blood. I wanted to make love to him until the sun came up, but when we came through the door to my house, I became all practical. I cleaned out my refrigerator and put the groceries away.

Eric leaned against my kitchen table, watching me in silence while drinking a blood. I turned around from my cabinets and looked at him. Eric smiled reassuringly and my heart made a little jump. I knew what I wanted. No more procrastinating, no more thinking about the problems we were in.

I walked over to him and stood between his legs and placed my hands on his thighs. He put down the bottle on the table and pulled me closer.

We started kissing, first tentatively, then deeper. Eric`s hands moved down my spine to my butt and my hands mirrored his. We kissed and made sounds of enjoyment and my heart was singing. Our tongues played with each other, licking, twirling. I let mine roll over Eric`s teeth and down a fang. At the tip, I pressed slightly and a drop of blood appeared on my tongue. I offered it to Eric and was rewarded with him sucking it and moaning.

Eric`s kissing became more frantic and his hands were all over me. Soon we were heading towards the bedroom, kissing all the way. Our clothes were removed in a split second and we were naked on my bed.

We paused for a minute and looked at each other, as if to ask if it was okay, if this was okay. Apparently it was because soon I had my legs around Eric`s waist and him situated just where I wanted him. Eric and I moved our hips simultaneously, as if on command, and he was deep inside me.

Both he and I were still, just enjoying the feeling of him inside me, Eric stretching me, filling me. We lay there forever, looking at each other and smiling.

"This is how we should be," Eric said.

"All the time?" I couldn`t help joking.

"All the time, always," Eric answered.

I nodded. "Yes, always."

It seemed as if we had just said our vows or made a promise. Eric smiled and I couldn`t help smiling back. It was indeed a grand feeling to have my ... my lover, my love, the father of my child, inside me, hovering over me, smiling at me and telling me `forever`. Though `forever` wasn`t the word he used.

Eric`s cool lips started kissing my neck and it made me want us to start moving again. I grabbed onto Eric`s butt and started to push with my hands while countering with my hips.

"Mmmm, so eager," Eric whispered and gave me a push. And then another one.

"You betcha," I moaned. And that was the end of that conversation. At least the verbal part of it.

Eric and I made love like we hadn`t made love in a long time, and in a way we hadn`t. It was fast and intense, with hands all over each other`s bodies, hips moving hard against hips and loud sounds of pleasure being yelled from both of us.

I was the only one panting and breaking a sweat, but Eric made up for it by chanting my name and yelling out what I now knew was utter nonsense in old Norse. For some reason it turned me on even more than it ever had. It went straight to every little nerve ending where it started a hurricane of emotions that washed over me and made me see that beautiful white light that feels so good.

I couldn`t help screaming "I love you," in the first language Eric had ever spoken, when I came. Eric opened his eyes wide and stared at me, and I could see his orgasm in them. His body stopped abruptly, spasmed and joined mine in trembling.

He collapsed partly over me and I welcomed the feeling of his spent body so close to mine. My hands were flat on his back, enjoying the muscles under his skin.

After a few minutes, Eric rolled over on his side and pulled me close to him, my back against his chest. We lay there, enjoying the feeling of each other and me gaining my breath again. After a few minutes, I realized something.

"You didn`t take my blood?" I wondered if his announcement about taking smaller sips included not drinking at all.

Eric pulled me closer.

"The night is still young."

Xxxx

We talked a little, but never about what I was carrying `under my heart`, as Gran would put it. It was nice to just chit-chat about Pam and the other vampires in the area and about everything else that had happened in Eric`s life while I was gone.

Apparently most of Eric`s last month had orbited around my disappearance. He had even had long conversations with Sam and slightly shorter ones with my brother. I made a mental note of calling both of them, and Amelia, the next day. I remembered how worried I had been when Jason had been abducted, and here I was, making love to Eric instead of telling my brother and my friends that I was home safe.

Being told that I was pregnant had apparently blown away parts of my brain, at least temporarily.

"You don`t have to worry about them. I may have exaggerated my knowledge of your whereabouts to make them worry less."

I turned my head.

"Why?"

"The last thing you needed was the police or the FBI mixed up in all of this," Eric answered and he was right, of course. I was slightly worried, though, that my family and friends had forfeited police involvement so light-handedly and only because of Eric`s claims. Eric could have had me kidnapped somewhere, for all they knew, and they would have done nothing about it.

Eric kissed my spine, just where the neck ended and the back started.

"I want you to have my blood," he said. "I want to renew and strengthen the bond."

"And the baby?" There, I said it. The `b`-word. The cat was out of the bag now.

Eric kissed me again.

"I can only imagine the blood will be beneficial to the baby."

I nodded and Eric bit his wrist and offered it to my mouth. I held onto his wrist with both of my hands, and started sucking. I had almost forgotten the taste of his blood, that exquisite taste, but once I had it in my mouth again, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Eric started rubbing his erection against my thigh and when I moved my hips to indicate how welcome his intentions were, he bent my hips and knees and quickly entered me while his other arm moved under my body, holding me close to his, and his hand was between my legs. We were still on our sides, still very close to one another.

I was now enjoying Eric threefold. The taste of his blood, the wonders his fingers were making and his Gracious Plenty moving in and out of me.

I sucked deeply and moved my body to meet Eric`s thrusts, but my undoing was the capable index finger that made the most lovely circles.

Just when I was getting close, Eric bit me on my shoulder. I sucked one last deep sip and had to stop sucking when a moan demanded the full use of my mouth. The loveliest orgasm washed over me.

Eric grunted behind me and with one last push, he was still. He licked my shoulder, but stayed inside me for a while.

"I really wish we could always be like this," I said and it was the last thing I could remember before sleep took me and washed me into oblivion.

Xxxx

The phone rang and I jumped out onto my floor before I was even awake. I ran to get it without realizing how early it was. It wasn`t until I lifted the phone to my ear, I looked out the window and saw the early morning light.

"Hello," I answered in a very sleepy voice.

"Ms. Stackhouse?" the voice at the other end asked. From the Spanish accent, I immediately knew who it was. Felipe de Castro.

"Yes?"

"Well, good morning, Ms. Stackhouse. I`m sorry for waking you up like this, but it was urgent."

"How can you still be up?" I asked.

"I am in a different time zone, my dear."

Stupid, tired me.

"So what was so urgent you had to pull me out of my sleep?" I figured I was allowed to be cranky at this time of night, or morning.

"I do apologize. I will make my errand short so you can go back to your beauty sleep." I could almost hear the smile on Felipe de Castro`s lips. "I want you to come to Las Vegas."

I swallowed a gasp and tried to find my cool. Unfortunately my cool was still back in my bed, snoring.

"I`m sorry. Why would I be going to Las Vegas?"

"Victor told me about your condition."

Again I had to stifle a gasp until I remembered that Victor and Felipe didn`t know about my real condition, my pregnancy. He was referring to the fake one.

"Yes?" I asked.

"And he had me worried. I want to see you and I want my doctors to have a look at you too."

So much for telling a lie to get off the hook. The hook had been replaced with a net and I was caught in it.

"I can assure you that I am perfectly well. And Eric is looking after me very well." I figured it couldn`t hurt to remind him of the bond I had to one of his sheriffs.

"I`m sure he is, but I really want to make sure myself. I don`t want anything to happen to you, you know. You are my favorite telepath, my dear Ms. Stackhouse." He paused a little. "Of course, you are my only telepath too." His laughter got on my nerves.

"Yes, but I assure you that I`m fine. I do have my job and my house to look after. And I want to be close to Eric."

"You did manage to stay away from all three this last month, or so the reports tell me. I`m sure you can spare a week for me as well. I`ll be sending a car around in the afternoon."

That made me panic. He wanted me to leave before Eric was awake. How could I refuse? Lie? Run away from the house? Hang up?

"With all due respect, Mr. de Castro."

"Felipe, please."

"Felipe. With all due respect." I wasn`t sure how to continue my sentence so I took a few moments. "Ever since the first assignment I have had in the vampire world, I have always been allowed to bring my boyfriend. It is very important to me." I silently wondered what Eric would think of me calling him my boyfriend. Could a thousand year old Viking vampire even be a _boy_friend`? I looked out the window and a small fear hit me. "I hope you understand?"

Felipe de Castro said nothing for a while. Then finally he made a coughing sound.

"Very well, Ms. Stackhouse. Have Eric call me the moment he gets up."

"I will."

We said our goodbyes and I hung up.

I walked into my old room and noticed the suitcases on the floor. Eric was using my hidey-hole. It made me smile, but then the echo of Felipe de Castro`s voice sent shivers down my spine.

I went to bed again, but sleep failed me.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter.

I know some of you are wondering where I`m taking this, and I love your suggestions and questions. It seems some of you are afraid I`m going to do something to the baby, so let me reassure you at least on that point (though I am trying not to spoil the story for you). No, Sookie will certainly not terminate this pregnancy. Having a baby may be one of the most dangerous things she could do in her current situation, but Sookie is a fighter and she and Eric will find a solution – even if it will take a certain amount of sacrifice.

**Boyfriend**

I find the whole `boyfriend`-concept in the English language funny. When we get what you would call a boyfriend, we call him our `kjæreste` (Norwegian)/ `kæreste`(Danish) which directly translated means `dearest`. I like that term and often refer to my husband as my `kjæreste` instead of `husband`. He is my very dearest. Only in Swedish they have the term `pojkvän` which means `boyfriend`.

Just let me know if you want more insights to the Scandinavian languages (or other things Scandinavian) since I there are no more Viking-lessons to give. I take requests on topics :-D


	18. Chapter 18

**Dead with the Vikings – chapter 18**

**A/N: **

Again, thank you for all the great reviews and lovely PM`s I`ve been getting. I can`t tell you how much they warm my heart.

Some of you also had great ideas for things I can bring up in the A/N at the end.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for her quick betaing and great suggestions. And to **Peppermintyrose** for a very important suggestion for this chapter.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_We said our goodbyes and I hung up. _

_I walked into my old room and noticed the suitcases on the floor. Eric was using my hidey-hole. It made me smile, but then the echo of Felipe de Castro`s voice sent shivers down my spine. _

_I went to bed again, but sleep failed me._

* * *

**Chapter 18:**

After a couple of hours of thinking about my situation, I got up before I worked myself into a real nervous breakdown instead of the fake one, I had told Victor Madden about. I made myself some coffee and decided to postpone breakfast since I didn`t really want to have anything in my stomach I could lose again. I was feeling nauseous and the term `morning sickness` entered my head on a huge blinking banner.

I sat down and figured I needed a to-do list. The list I ended up with was pretty short.

1, I would call Amelia, Sam and Jason. Possibly Claude too, if I could reach him.

2, I would have a real talk with Eric about the future.

3, I would never go to Las Vegas.

Number three was more of a to-don`t than a do-do, but somehow it fit my list. Life felt a little easier with those three decisions being made and I went to take care of the first number on my list.

Amelia was the person out of the three who got up earliest in the morning so I called her first. She didn`t sound as if she had been worried at all and was pleased I called because she wanted to talk about the new guy she had met. I heard her yap away about Richard the Wizard and when we finally hung up, I realized I hadn`t told her a thing about where I had been or what I had seen. Which was probably for the best since I really couldn`t tell much.

Sam was much more interested in what had happened to me, but stopped his questions pretty quickly. Sam knew he wasn`t getting answers and probably why he wasn`t getting them too.

"I`m really sorry about leaving you hanging like this, Sam."

"Don`t worry about it, Chere. Eric told me you had to leave and he even let me borrow one of his people until I had new one hired."

"So you hired someone else?" I asked.

"I had to, but you know you`ll always get your job back. But Eric said you might move to Shreveport and get another job."

"He said what?"

"Well, he suggested it. And what`s wrong? I mean you are sort of an item now, aren`t you? It`s not that uncommon to move in together." He paused. "And even if I`m not too happy about you being involved with a vampire, Eric seems decent enough."

I gaped. Had I returned to some parallel universe? Was this the Twilight Zone?

"I really need the money, Sam. I mean I`ve been gone a month and before that I was injured and couldn`t work for weeks."

Sam was quiet for a little while.

"So Eric hasn`t told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Look, it`s not really my place to say it, but I think Eric has paid out your mortgage and this year`s taxes."

"He WHAT?" My voice was high pitched enough to make dogs come running. Which was probably fitting since I was talking to Sam.

"I probably shouldn`t have mentioned it."

"Well, I do know who should have mentioned it." I said. Eric knew very well how I felt about receiving money from him and now he had put an unknown amount of money into my house.

I slapped my forehead. So this was why he was being so smug when he let me pay for my own food yesterday.

Sam and I talked a little more and then we hung up. I was not in the mood to talk to my brother so I tried Claude instead. He didn`t take the phone so I left a message.

The air had gone out of my balloon so I sat down with a fresh cup of coffee. I still didn`t want any food, but I knew I would have to try and eat something soon. My stomach was complaining loudly. I ate a dry slice of bread and hoped it would stay down, but I wasn`t really sure.

Xxxx

After having watched dust float around in my living room, I decided to clean up. I spent the next four hours cleaning floors, walls, ceilings and furniture. I didn`t leave anything unturned and was pretty pleased with myself when I was done. All the dust was gone and so were some of my more destructive thoughts.

I had just situated my pleased butt on the couch when the phone rang. I growled a little to myself but went over and picked it up.

"What the hell are you doing there, Sookie?" the person in the other end of the line said, before I managed to answer. It was Claude.

"What do you mean?"

"You should be in the safe hands of your Viking, not here!" Claude really seemed to blame me, as if I had bought the ticket home from Vikingland to my bed myself and gone without permission.

"What`s wrong? Am I still in danger?"

"I have no idea, Sookie, because I haven`t been able to contact Niall in quite a while. But so far as I know, there are still fairies out there after you."

I started to shiver. This was not what I wanted to hear. I thought I was safe since I had been taken home and now I was learning that my biggest nightmare might repeat itself.

"But why did Niall bring me back to the present if the danger wasn`t over?"

"How should I know, Sookie?" Claude answered. "I just know that you shouldn`t be here."

Claude really didn`t know anything helpful about which fairies were after me or how close they were. I went to the fireplace and got my iron raker and held on to it. I sat back on my couch and tears started running down my cheeks. I really didn`t want to go through this again.

I wallowed in self-pity even though this was something I rarely did. I felt it was called for now with a pregnancy I didn`t know how to handle, a vampire who wanted to relocate me to Las Vegas (yeah, I knew that week would be prolonged when I first got there) and now fairies on my trail.

I cried harder and harder and finally I had no tears left. My romance novels always talked about the heroine crying until she was out of tears and I`d always felt that it was pretty ridiculous. The body would always produce new tears. But now I knew just what it meant. I didn`t have one tear left inside me. Not one.

I wiped my nose on some paper tissue and got up. Stackhouses didn`t fight sitting down. I gritted my teeth and decided to meet my problems head on.

I just wished I knew how.

xxxx

I heard a car coming and I walked quickly to the window to see who it was. For a second I thought Felipe de Castro had changed his mind and had sent for me, but then I saw that it was Jason`s truck. My brother got out of it and walked to the door and entered without even knocking.

"Hi Jason," I smiled.

"Sookie! Where the hell have you been? That tall vamp of yours, you know the one who stayed with you for some days. I bought him clothes." Jason talked as if I didn`t know who Eric was though he was very well aware of Eric`s and my relationship. "He fucking knew more about where you were than I did, your own brother."

Jason kept talking and his thoughts were going on overdrive, only on an entirely different subject. If his mouth was worried about where I had been, his brain was occupied with how close I was to Eric and if he might be interested in a business proposition.

Jason noticed the grim look I was giving him and realized that I had read his thoughts.

"What? Come on. He`s a businessman. He would listen if you told him to."

I got up from my couch.

"Jason Stackhouse. Eric is not going into business with you and I am not going to ask him to." I huffed. "Now sit down and behave and I`ll make you a cup of coffee." I walked towards the kitchen.

"You wouldn`t happen to have a beer, would you?" Jason yelled behind me.

I stayed in the kitchen a little longer than it took to make myself some coffee and to open a beer for Jason. Being with Eric`s human family this last month, had made me miss my own and I didn`t have too much of it. I really didn`t want to quarrel with my only brother and close relative.

It was getting dark and I could feel Eric stir through the bond. I had missed him during the day and looked forward to seeing him again.

I smiled when I got back to the living room, but it stiffened when I saw Jason getting up and walking towards Eric who was standing on the threshold to the living room. Jason had a greedy grin on his face. Or rather, I knew it was greedy because I could hear the dollar bills being counted in his head.

Then Eric did something that made me giggle. He lifted his arms, caught the door frame, and stretched his body. He looked at me when he did it and it had the intended effect. On me and on my brother. I welcomed the show; his biceps, triceps and stomach muscles, rolling under the tight t-shirt. And Jason stopped in his tracks.

Eric was spectacular – and probably a little frightening too.

"Do you want a blood?" I asked him.

He walked over to me and kissed my cheek. "I would love one," he whispered in my ear, in a way that made no doubt about what kind of blood he would have preferred. I shivered lightly and smiled at him.

"Just a moment." I put the coffee and the beer down and went back to the kitchen to heat a blood. When the microwave oven pinged, I took out the blood, shook it and went back to Eric and Jason.

"… so what do you think?" Jason said.

Eric looked from Jason to me. He was on the couch and Jason sat like a king in Gran`s old chair. I scooted down next to Eric and couldn`t help cuddling into his arm. Jason pretended not to notice and asked Eric again. "So what do you think?"

"About what?" I asked him.

Jason didn`t answer, but Eric did.

"Apparently your brother wants me to help him start up a business on his own."

I looked at Eric, who just smiled one of his little smiles, and then at Jason.

"What??"

Jason shrugged. "Come on, Sookie. I thought you would be thrilled. Your brother and your…." He looked at Eric. "In business together."

I was so embarrassed. "Jason. This is my house now and when I tell you not to bring up a subject, I expect you not to do it. And especially not when I`m in the kitchen for a few moments."

"Take it easy, Sookie. Eric will make good money out of this. It`s not like I`m asking for a handout or anything."

I rolled my eyes.

"I think you need to go now, Jason." If I were to stay friends with my brother, I couldn`t look at his face just now.

"Jesus Christ, Sookie. You are overreacting," Jason said in an annoyed voice, but he grabbed his beer and was out the door.

I looked at Eric. "I`m sorry." I was mortified.

Eric went over to me and soon I had his long, soothing arms around me. I felt calm wash over me and leaned into his chest. Eric kissed my hair.

"If you want me to help out Jason, I would be happy to," Eric said.

I turned around, surprised.

"No. No, of course I don`t want you to help out Jason. He is a grown man, he doesn`t need to ask you for money."

Eric didn`t say anything, but the whole talk about money made me remember what Sam had told me.

"Did you pay out my mortgage and tax?" I asked Eric. My voice sounded a little more accusing than I had meant it to.

"Yes," Eric answered.

I studied his face. Eric looked as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to pay thousands of dollars worth of my bills. I couldn`t help gaping. I was thankful that he looked after my house, but also embarrassed. Eric smiled.

"You are wondering what people will think of you now?" he asked. He knew me too well.

"Well, yes." I didn`t really know how to explain it. "I`m sorry, but that`s how I was brought up. Men can`t give women a whole lot of money when they aren`t married. It`s just not right." I poked my finger in his chest and huffed.

"But we are married," Eric said with a smirk.

I shook my head. "We are bonded and pledged. I can`t remember any wedding rings being exchanged."

Eric pulled me into an embrace again. "You can tell people we are married. If a wedding band will help you, I will be happy to provide." He caressed my shoulders, probably to keep me from pulling back.

Since I had my face buried in Eric`s chest, I couldn`t see his face. And he couldn`t see mine, which was probably just as well. I was frustrated. Eric paying for my bills like that went against everything I stood for. I was not like that.

Then I rewound our conversation and listened to what he had said to me.

"Did you just propose to me, Eric?"

He let me pull back now so I could see him. He had a smile curling on his lips.

"It is customary for a man to marry the woman who carries their children?"

I couldn`t help laughing and the tension was gone. "I think the idea is to marry her before you get her pregnant, but yes." It didn`t escape my notice that Eric had acknowledged the baby for the first time.

"We are married. I can get you a ring and it will be respected in your world as it already is in mine. Even the old woman who is a relation of Bill`s will accept it."

How did Eric know about Mrs. Bellefleur being the largest gossip in town? And Bill`s descendants? Eric bent down to kiss me, but I stopped him.

"You have to call Felipe de Castro. He wants us to go to Las Vegas."

Eric stiffened slightly. "If you go to Las Vegas, you will never be allowed to go home again. You will be too valuable to Felipe de Castro. " When Eric saw the look on my face, he continued. "He won`t lock you up or be violent. But he will make it impossible for you to leave. He has his ways. And of course when he learns that you are pregnant…"

"You don`t think Victor could smell it yesterday?"

"No, that would have been too early. I only knew from tasting your blood. But they will know soon enough and we don`t want to risk that."

Eric pulled out his phone from his pants and started dialing a number.

"Won`t Felipe be asleep?" I asked.

"I`m calling Victor."

Eric went to my bedroom. Apparently he didn`t want me to hear what they were discussing.

Xxxx

Later we went to bed. We had sex and we talked. We talked a lot. Not about the future as I had on my to-do-list, but we had an easy conversation about everything and nothing.

I liked being close to Eric. And after some time, I fell asleep.

I drifted in and out of sleep and every time I was half awake, I heard Eric`s voice in the living room. Apparently he had a lot of business to take care of.

* * *

**A/N:**

Quiet waters this chapter, but a storm is waiting ahead. A storm called Felipe de Castro.

* * *

**On request:**

**How we date in Scandinavia**

What has surprised me the most when I talk to Americans is how you can date more than one person at the time and that you have to agree on exclusiveness before you stop dating other people.

Here it`s a bit simpler. If you date, you date exclusively. No talks or agreements, it`s just the way it is. If you go out romantically, and it`s not a one night stand, then you stick to that one person until you break up. If you date someone else, you are cheating.

When we date there is always a very awkward situation around paying. It`s been years since I dated (I`m married), but back then women always paid for themselves and would almost be offended if a man pulled out his wallet to pay.

I think the picture is a little more mixed now and I have friends who really struggle with that part when they date someone new. They don`t want to offend her by paying and they don`t want to offend her by not paying. I`m so glad I`m not a guy sometimes.

**Words we use in dating situations** (in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish)

**Lover** – Elsker (Norwegian), Elsker (Danish), Älskare (Swedish)

**Love/ beloved** – Elskede (Norwegian), Elskede (Danish), Älskade (Swedish)

**Boyfriend/girlfriend** – Kjæreste (Norwegian), Kæreste (Danish), Polkvän/Flickvän (Swedish)

**I Love You** – Jeg elsker deg (Norwegian), Jeg elsker dig (Danish), Jag älskar dig (Swedish)

We don`t really use a word like **date** as it seems Americans do. We just go out together – no specific word for it. There is an old word, stevnemøte/stevnemøde, but people would probably ask you which century you were from if you used it.

Feel free to ask me for more words or situations.

**The weird pants the Norwegian curling team is wearing**

I laughed when I saw this request. The guys on the Norwegian curling team really have some great pants at the Olympic Games in Vancouver, huh?

They are wearing the pants for fun. Of course, they never knew they would get this kind of attention. The Norwegian curling guys are not professional. They have full time jobs and they are curling for the fun of it – and they seem to have fun doing it. So when one of the younger guys on the team pulled out these pants and suggested they wear them, they all agreed. Well, all but the coach who was a bit embarrassed in the beginning.

I saw an interview after they beat China, who has an all-professional team who play curling 8 hours a day. The Norwegian skip said: "Yeah, they get to practice all the day, every day, but they don`t have as cool pants as us." I kind of like the attitude.

The coach used to be skip on the team and when they started becoming good enough to participate, and even win medals, in the Olympic Games some years back, the Norwegian Olympic Team pulled them in to make sure they had the best preparations. One of the things the Norwegian Olympic Team insisted on was for the team to write exercise diaries. Well, this team never really exercised so they had problems writing anything in the diary. The skip smoked 20 a day and was a bit overweight, but he felt he had to write something in his diary.

This was his entry on Christmas Eve: "Walked three times around the Christmas tree, outer circle."

As much as I respect athletes who live and breathe their sport, I kind of like the ones who take life as it comes and still get results.

**Next chapter: What to see in Scandinavia. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 19**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all your great reviews. I know I say it before every chapter, but they mean a lot to me!

A big fat wet kiss to **Rascalthemutant** for betaing this chapter and also posting her first fanfic (yay). It`s not a SVM-fic, but about Robinson-Micke (the character Alexander Skarsgård played in the movie Hundtricket). She posted it at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum. She is also working hard at making a nice fanfic section for all the fanfics-writers who feel they need a back-up place to this site. No more messy thread-posting, but a real fanfiction-site. Yay!

And a huge hug to **Peppermintyrose** who read parts of this chapter because I was unsure I had captured Eric`s and Sookie`s spirit. She gave it thumbs up which made me sleep better at night.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Later we went to bed. We had sex and we talked. We talked a lot. Not about the future as I had on my to-do-list, but we had an easy conversation about everything and nothing. _

_I liked being close to Eric. And after some time, I fell asleep._

_I drifted in and out of sleep and every time I was half awake, I heard Eric`s voice in the living room. Apparently he had a lot of business to take care of. _

* * *

**Chapter 19:**

An hour or so before dawn Eric came to bed with me. His body weight on my mattress woke me up. I opened my sleepy eyes.

"Hi honey," I whispered and stretched my hand out to him.

He pulled me into his body, but our heads were far enough away from each other for us to see the other`s face. Or rather, he could see my face. It was too dark for me to see much apart from his vampire glow. He was like those lamps little kids had when they were afraid of the dark. Only without the Mickey Mouse face.

His hand caressed my hair and I could feel more than see, his eyes scrutinizing me.

"Felipe wants us to leave for Las Vegas as soon as I get up tonight. You need to pack a bag with the things you`ll need for a week away from home."

I stiffened. "But Eric…" I never got any further. He reached out and put a finger to my lips and I kissed it.

"You might also want to pack any of the things you don`t want to separate from. Things of sentimental value to you. Not anything big, but pictures or jewelry."

"What? I don't..." Again I was interrupted.

"And you should probably talk to everyone that means anything to you. Your brother, friends…"

I pulled back. I looked at him in the darkness and tried to process what he had said.

"Why?" My voice had a frantic edge.

Eric continued as if he hadn`t heard me. "Ask your brother what kind of business venture he wanted me to enter into and tell him yes. I`ll make sure Bobby Burnham will pay out the money for it. And if you can think of anyone else who would need financial support, I`ll be happy to give it to them. But you have to set it up tomorrow."

I got quiet and so did Eric. I stared out in the darkness and saw the faint glow moving closer to me.

"Felipe is insisting that you go to Las Vegas and even if he says it`s just for a week, both he and I know he wants to keep you. And me, if he has to. For now we are pretending to go to Las Vegas, and that is what you will be packing for and telling your friends, but there is a chance we won`t be back for a long time."

Eric`s voice was one of reason, but also emotions. Or maybe they were my emotions filtering what I heard.

My thoughts ran fast, almost too fast. How could I say goodbye to everyone? Jason, Sam, Amelia, Tara. And Hunter. What about Hunter?

"I can`t go." I said.

"That is not an option. Felipe will not kidnap you, but he will use all means. Just as I used Bill to get you to see me, Felipe will use me against you. Or he will use someone close to you. And soon, he will use the baby. You are very valuable to him."

A tear rolled down my cheek. So this was Hunter or my baby? Hunter would be as alone with his telepathy as I had been.

"Will I be able to call people?"

"No, you won`t."

"Not even people Felipe knows nothing about? People you don`t even know. There is someone who will need me, but no one knows about him."

Eric looked at me. "You mean your cousin`s son?"

I gaped. "How did you know?" I whispered.

"I always know. Some think I survived this long because I`m strong, because I`m a great warrior and fighter. This is not the reason. A lot of strong vampires have met stakes and swords, but I am here." He took a little break and pulled me into him again. "I survived because I know things."

"Then you know I can`t leave Hunter."

"Hunter will be safe."

"That`s not what I meant. At least that`s not entirely what I meant."

"I know. But he will be without you for the time being. And when he gets older, who knows, maybe he`ll travel to a school far away and he`ll meet a total stranger with blond hair and a big heart." Eric`s hand moved to my chest. "And she will teach him the things she had to learn for herself."

Eric kissed my forehead reassuringly.

"Dawn is approaching. There is no other way than this. This will protect you from Felipe. And if my plans go well, it will also protect you from other vampires. And hopefully even the fairies."

With that he walked out of my bedroom to go sleep in the hidey-hole.

I lay still, listening to my own breath.

I was going to leave everything behind. Everything and everyone. Everyone but Eric.

xxxx

I couldn`t sleep though I was already sleep deprived from the night before.

I lay quiet for some time, thinking over what Eric had said. I didn`t have any other options than to trust him. He was a great survivor and he seemed serious in wanting to protect me. But it was just too huge for me to comprehend. Eric had warned me that I would have to leave Bon Temps, but I had thought he had meant to go live in his house, or leave Bon Temps temporarily.

Suddenly I felt bile in my mouth and ran for the bathroom. Luckily I hadn`t eaten much the last 24 hours, but I still had something to throw up. And it went all over the floor, just outside my bathroom.

I wasn`t sure if I was throwing up from being pregnant or from being nervous and sad, and it didn`t matter.

I went to pick up a bucket and cleaned up my own vomit. I couldn`t help crying. No one should have to clean up their own stomach contents. There should have been a law against it.

I washed the floor twice and then I took a shower and went to make myself breakfast. I decided to eat properly no matter how sick I felt. I had a kid depending on my eating habits and I had to make sure it was fine.

I had to make sure the baby was fine. This was to be my new mantra.

I walked around in my house, trying to decide what I wanted to bring with me. I picked out a few pictures, a small figurine that had meant a lot to Gran and the little jewelry I had. I packed my bag, trying only to bring what would be natural for a week in Las Vegas.

I tried not to cry and I was pretty successful too. That didn`t mean I wasn`t sad. I was devastated.

My hand stroked my stomach. "Don`t worry. I`ll look after you," I whispered without thinking. Then I stopped. Had I gone crazy or was I talking to a fetus just a couple of weeks old?

I shook my head, put on my coat and walked outside. I needed to say goodbye to the house and the land before I could say goodbye to my friends and family.

Xxxx

Meeting people I was close to for what might be the last time - and them not knowing it, was hard. Sam looked at me funny when my hug was twice as long my usual hugs and even my thick-headed brother was surprised.

His surprise was quickly replaced by satisfaction when I told him about Eric wanting to get into business with him.

"You`ve found yourself a great guy, Sookie. I mean, I always pictured you with some warm-blooded local guy like Hoyt, having a couple of kids and kissing him goodbye in the morning, but if this works for you, then I`m happy for you. As vamps go, your Eric seems all right."

I had to contain myself since I didn`t want my last memory of Jason to be me slapping him. I tried to smile instead.

"This works for me," I replied.

"And now I`m in business with him. That`s how brothers-in-law should be. You know, tight. Hell, I wouldn`t even mind calling him my friend."

Jason was so pleased with himself, I had to look away. At least we would separate on a good note. I just wished I could be sure Jason would land on his feet.

He would be financially secured by Eric now, but money wasn`t Jason`s biggest problem. Women were. If he had hoped that I would find me a nice man, I had given up any hope of him finding a good woman. It broke my heart.

I gave Jason a long hug too and couldn`t help sniffing a little into his shoulder. Jason just smiled.

"If I had known how much it meant to you that I went into business with Eric, I would certainly have done it before."

I shook my head in disbelief and drove home. I wanted to see Tara, but I couldn`t. Seeing Sam and Jason had been more than enough emotions for one day.

I made myself a quick lunch and ate it all up even if it made me want to throw up all over again. I walked through the house again, looked at things, memorizing everything I was leaving behind. I then started to wash the house room by room. If I was leaving and someone else was to take over, at least it should be clean.

I never had any diary or a box with old love letters, but if I had had any of them, I would have thrown them out. I looked at my Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and wondered if it was too embarrassing to leave behind, but I figured it was something you would find in a lot of homes. So what if my home also had a hidey hole for real vampires Buffy would never slay?

It was late afternoon when I decided my house was clean. I took a quick shower, got dressed in clothes that would fit Las Vegas, packed the last of my bags and sat down to wait on my bed for the day to end and the night to begin.

Xxx

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I felt was a kiss of my cheek.

I turned around and looked at the man, the vampire, that made my heart sing. Right now I didn`t care if it sang because of the bond or because of me loving him. It was probably both and I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me.

Of course, one can`t pull a vampire that doesn`t want to be pulled, but it didn`t take much strength to pull Eric.

"How much time do we have?" I asked.

"Enough."

He kissed me and we slowly took off each other`s clothes. He kissed every inch of my body and I did the same to him. We were tasting and feeling and touching.

And we were making love. Sweet, sweet love. I felt the bond open and strengthen and it didn`t scare me.

What did scare me was the red tear running from Eric`s eye and down his cheek right after we both came.

Xxxx

We took a quick shower together, massaging each other with the soap and washing each other`s hair. We took turns using the hair dryer and gave each other silly little kisses when we saw a piece of naked skin.

When we got out of the bathroom, fully dressed, thankfully, Pam was sitting on my bed. I waited for a quick remark about our bathroom activities, but nothing came. She looked at Eric.

"Everything is ready."

I had a light snack, emptied the fridge and we were out the door.

Xxxx

I had no idea where we were going or if we were going to drive all the way there. Eric had not told me of his plans and I had not asked. I wanted to know and yet I didn`t. What I really wanted was to turn around and go home.

Eric had one hand on the wheel and the other grabbed mine.

"You will be fine," he said with confidence. I felt calm, like I always did when he was near me and I welcomed the feeling.

We came to an airstrip for private planes. There were a couple of hangars and two planes were out on the runway. Eric parked the car in the parking lot and grabbed our bags. He only had a small sports bag and so did Pam. I looked at them and my larger suitcase, but didn`t comment on it.

We walked over to the two planes and I saw a vampire standing at one of them. There was something familiar about him, something I couldn`t quite place.

We walked closer and then I saw who it was.

Steinngrim.

* * *

**A/N:**

So did you see Steinngrim coming?

I hope you liked this chapter. The next will be up shortly as it is already betaed.

And now for some of the information you have been asking for. This is not related to the story at all so don`t read it if you`re not interested. It might get boring (sorry).

* * *

**The Norwegian curling team**

I love the Norwegian fancy-pants (and I mean that literally) curling team. When they won the semifinals, they were asked what had motivated them to win that game (some reporters ask pretty redundant questions). Their answer: "We hate getting up early in the morning and the bronze final was earlier than the gold final, so we had to make sure we got the late one."

They won the silver medal, by the way. Not bad for a team where everyone has full time jobs and are basically broke. I saw a famous American footballer (I don`t know American football, so I didn`t catch his name) asking for a pair of their pants – and expected to get it just like that. The Norwegian curler was a bit embarrassed and said "Sorry, we could only afford two pairs of pants each and I don`t want to risk curling in my underwear."

* * *

**Travelling in Scandinavia**

**Scandinavia** consists of the three countries Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Finland and Iceland are part of the Nordic countries, but not Scandinavia. Danish, Swedish and Norwegian is very similar and we usually understand each other.

**Denmark** is tiny, flat and consists of a lot of islands. Five million people live in this small country so they live fairly close to each other and in large cities. Copenhagen is the capitol and has around 1.5 million inhabitants if you count suburbs.

Denmark is the oldest kingdom in the world. There has been a Danish king or queen on the Danish throne since Gorm the Old back in the Viking age. Denmark has never belonged to anyone or been ruled by anyone else since then. But Denmark has been much larger than she is today. Therefore Copenhagen, and other Danish cities, have a lot of grand buildings from the time Denmark was larger and much more important.

It was actually because of loss of power and land in the 19th century that Danish nationalists dug out the proud Viking history. Denmark felt tiny and wanted to remember days when she was huge and important. This was also the time when Vikings got their name.

Denmark has absolutely no mountains (unless you count the Faroe Islands or Greenland which belong to Denmark, but govern themselves), but sandy beaches everywhere. You never have to travel more than 40 – 50 kilometers to the nearest beach.

**Sweden** is large and has the same number of inhabitants as Denmark and Norway together – 9 million. Due to Swedes moving to the cities the last hundred years, most of Sweden is a huge uninhabited forest. Most Swedes live in the south of Sweden and in larger cities and you can drive for hours through Sweden without seeing a house or a person.

Sweden also has a proud history and has been a large country – often at war with Denmark. Therefore Stockholm and other cities are large and have beautiful buildings from the centuries Sweden was a North-European superpower (competing with Denmark for the title). Stockholm is about as large as Copenhagen and the two cities fight over which of them is "the capitol of Scandinavia".

Sweden has a lot of little islands just outside the coast and a lot of Swedes enjoy going there. Some even have cabins there where they spend most of the summer.

**Norway** was Danish for 400 years (the 400 years of night, as the Norwegians call it) up until 1814 when she became Swedish. In 1905 Norway finally won her liberty – not through war, but through negotiations. Norway asked a Danish prince to become king of Norway.

Norway has about 4 million inhabitants and is thus the smallest of the three countries if you count heads. But it is also the longest of the three, stretching from north of the Polar circle. If you tip Norway around, she will stretch herself all the way down to Rome, Italy – that`s how long the country is. Oslo is the capitol with around 500.000 inhabitants. Oslo has few old buildings as she wasn`t a large city until she became a capitol. Most of Oslo is built after the war.

It has been official Norwegian politics since the war to help people stay in the countryside and not move to the cities. It has not been 100% successful, but you will still find people living places you would never think anyone could live.

**What to see?** In Denmark and Sweden I would visit the major cities. They are beautiful and vibrant. You get modern life and history in one package. In Denmark I would also visit the beaches and in Sweden the little islands off the coast. I would visit both countries in the summer. Both Copenhagen and Stockholm have charming old amusement parks - Gröna Lund in Stockholm and Tivoli in Copenhagen - that are definitely worth a visit.

In Norway I would go by boat (for instance the Hurtigruta which is a local boat going all the way up the coast) and see the coast line and all the majestic fjords. I would go way up North and see the Midnight Sun in the summer or the Northern Lights in the Winter. You will never forget it if you do. Norway has the most extreme nature of the three countries and the least interesting cities.

If you want more details, just ask me for it. If you put ten cents on me, I`ll talk your ears off *blushes*.

Feel free to ask me for more information. Or to tell me to shut up. I have no idea how interesting this is to you *looks down in embarrassment*.


	20. Chapter 20

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 20 **

**A/N**

Scandinavians are infamous for being broody and taking on all the guilt in the world. Well, I`m usually pretty positive and happy, but right now I feel guilty. I read and loved all your great reviews, but I never got the time to answer them. It was a choice – either answer them now and post tomorrow, or post now. I am posting a chapter now – so I will just say thank you to you all here!

A lot of you told me about your love for Scandinavia and/or your Scandinavian heritage. We are such a small corner of the world and it fills us with pride when anyone notices us – not to mention likes us. Yay!

I am sending all my love to **Rascalthemutant** who reads through all my stories and weeds out mistake after mistake. Thank you!

* * *

**From the previous chapter**:

"_You will be fine," he said with confidence. I felt calm, like I always did when he was near me and I welcomed the feeling. _

_We came to an airstrip for private planes. There were a couple of hangars and two planes were out on the runway. Eric parked the car in the parking lot and grabbed our bags. He only had a small sports bag and so did Pam. I looked at them and my larger suitcase, but didn`t comment on it. _

_We walked over to the two planes and I saw a vampire standing at one of them. There was something familiar about him, something I couldn`t quite place. _

_We walked closer and then I saw who it was._

_Steinngrim. _

* * *

**Chapter 20:**

"Steinngrim," I exclaimed before I could stop myself.

He turned around with surprise written all over his face. Maybe he had never learned to hide his feelings or maybe he just didn`t bother to. He looked at me up and down and then to Eric.

"You are right. She recognizes me and I have never seen her before. How very odd."

He then did something vampires never do. He opened his arms and gave me an embrace. I was shocked to my core.

He chuckled. "You will soon find me to be a vampire out of the ordinary."

Pam rolled her eyes and Eric looked away. There was something between those three vampires I couldn`t read. As I couldn`t read Steinngrim`s mind, I looked at him. Could he read mine?

Apparently he could because he frowned. "I can read your mind when you are very loud, but it has taken me centuries of practice. I lost all my telepathy when I was turned and I had to rebuild it."

Eric coughed. "You need to get on the plane, Sookie." I then got my second vampire embrace in a few minutes. This time from Eric.

I looked at him, suddenly nervous. "Aren`t you coming too?"

Eric`s eyes met mine and they were full of pain. "I am getting on the other plane. The plane going to Las Vegas."

"You can`t go to Las Vegas without me. Felipe will never accept it."

"He will have to."

"No, I…" That was as far as I got before I had Eric`s lips on mine. He gave me a very passionate kiss and I couldn`t help kissing him back even though my brain was filled with questions for him.

After minutes of kissing, he pulled back and his eyes were on me again.

"You will take care of yourself and the baby, Sookie. My love will be with you always."

Before I could protest, I had my third vampire hug. Pam gave me an embrace as warm as any cold-blooded vampire could.

"It has been a treat knowing you, Sookie," she said and it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Were we saying goodbye forever?

Eric growled at Pam and she looked down. Apparently she had said too much.

Suddenly my two vampires were inside their plane and it taxied off the runway. I stood there gaping, wondering what had just happened. And wondering what was going to happen.

I didn`t like it one bit.

Xxxx

I had Steinngrim`s arm wrapped around my waist and pulling me into the other plane. The plane without Eric and Pam.

I was stunned. I trusted Eric to do his best to save my life and the life of my, of our, baby. And not only to save us, but to make sure we would live in freedom.

But now I suddenly realized that I wasn`t so sure I trusted that Eric would include himself in my life. I gasped from the shock of that realization. I couldn`t breathe.

"You will be fine, Sookie. I will take care of you," Steinngrim`s soothing voice was in my ear. I looked around. We were now inside the plane, buckled up and the engines were starting to roar. When had that happened?

"Where is Eric going?" I asked.

"They are going to make sure you will be fine. Eric was wise to contact me, though I was very surprised since it has literally been ages since I`ve heard from him. But he knows you will be safe with me. That I won`t hurt you."

"But why?"

The plane started to taxi and I could feel a slight nausea build in my stomach. I didn`t know if it was the pregnancy or the imminent flight. I had never been thrilled about flying. Steinngrim held my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Why what?" Steinngrim smiled. "Why I won`t hurt you?"

"No, why Eric couldn`t come too." I looked at him. "And why you won`t hurt me."

The plane was up in the air and I couldn`t help looking out the window which didn`t improve my nausea. I swallowed heavily.

"Why should I? I`ve always respected people, even before True Blood. And now it is to my advantage, what with us coming out of the coffin and all. As king of…"

"You are king?" I looked at him. I would never have taken him for a vampire who could fight himself into power – or to keep it.

I must have looked puzzled or maybe Steinngrim had read my thoughts. He laughed. "I never was a fighter, but I`m not stupid and brains are important if you want power. And I`m king of a country most vampires shun. I mean, who would want to live in the land of the midnight sun? It would be like humans choosing to live in the land of poisonous gasses. When you add to it that my country was dirt poor up until 50 years ago, competition was scarce. I haven`t had to fight that much."

"You`re king of Norway?" I remembered the commercials with the fjords and the mountains – and the midnight sun.

Steinngrim nodded proudly. "I am. It`s not the most important vampire country in the world, but it`s my birth country and I`m sentimental." Steinngrimm looked at me. "Much more so than Eric. He moved to other countries, other fights. I stayed behind."

I nodded. Eric had been called Viking by other vampires, but he had never flashed it himself. Apart from the sword I had seen him fight with in New Orleans and the gibberish Norse he spoke in intimate situations, Eric never showed his Nordic heritage. Of course, he looked like a Viking even in Fangtasia t-shirts, but that was his build and colors giving him away.

Steinngrim continued. "I have a great working relationship with the humans and we have become sort of a safe haven for vampires from other parts of the world. At least in the winter. Which was probably why Eric called me. He wanted the services of our VPP."

"VPP?"

Steinngrim beamed. "Vampire Protection Plan. We hide vampires and give them new identities. Only with you it`s going to be different. You are the first human I`m going to hide."

"So Eric called you to hide me? Not himself or Pam?"

"You will be safe," Steinngrim answered, completely ignoring my question. "The human government is helping out and if we can teach you Norwegian quickly, you`ll blend right in with the locals. Eric told me you knew some Norse?"

"I sort of had it in my brain when I woke up back in the past, in your past. I think it`s still there."

Steinngrim smiled and it was weird to see the fangs in his mouth.

"Splendid. Splendid. Then maybe you could go into teaching. We help out the historic department at the universities and also run a Viking Knowledge Park for kids and people interested in the Viking age. Someone with fresh knowledge of Norse, a knowledge that hasn`t been tainted by a thousand years of other languages, is very valuable."

This conversation turned weirder and weirder. Was I, Sookie Stackhouse, barmaid with no education, going to teach at universities? I shook my head.

"It`s all up to you, of course," Steinngrim said quickly. "You are free to live your life as you want in my kingdom. I will take measures to ensure your safety, but apart from that you are free as a bird."

"Why are you doing this for me?" I finally asked. I wasn`t exactly used to the word `freedom` coming out of fanged mouths.

Steinngrim looked at me. "To be honest, I`m not doing it for you, but for Eric. He means a lot to me." Steinngrim smiled and jerked his whole body in my direction. "And of course your story about going back and being my friend in a past I can`t remember, was just too funny to resist." He laughed and slapped his own thigh. "I had to meet you after Eric told me."

"But if you and Eric are close, why isn`t he living in Norway too?"

Steinngrim was quiet for a long time. "Eric and I are not as close as I would have wanted us to be. We started out as newly made vampires together. We had different makers and I suppose I was luckier with mine than he was with his. Eric`s first centuries as a vampire were tough, they really were. And I guess I`m a reminder. I`m not sure. I only know I jumped in my plane the moment I heard from him."

"So Eric won`t be joining me?" I almost whispered.

Steinngrim looked out the window.

"You know what? We are flying against the sun and I need to go back to the storage compartment and crawl into my coffin before you are sitting with a big pile of ashes next to you." He bent over and gave me a hug. The number of non-sexual vamp hugs I had gotten today was a few 100 percent more than I had gotten my entire life, but his hug was very welcome. I sighed in some kind of relief.

Steinngrim pulled out an envelope from his jacket pocket.

"In this envelope you`ll find your new passport and papers. Please destroy all your credit cards and other things with your name on it. Even your library card has to go." He handed it over to me. "You are now Susanne Sørensen. I tried to make it as close to your old name as possible so you would feel comfortable with it."

And with that I was alone. Well, apart from whoever was controlling the plane. I leaned my chair back and decided to look at the papers later and to sleep at little. One can be very practical when one is desperate enough.

xxxx

When I woke up, the sun was shining, I was hungry and I wanted to throw up. I went to the pantry to try and find some food, but then my stomach contents told me they wanted to get out and I ran for the toilet. I made it just in time and wondered if one also made some kind of mile-high club if one threw up in a plane.

A tear ran down my cheek at the thought of making the mile-high club. It wasn`t that I was particularly horny, with my head halfway down the toilet, but I might have been if Eric had been there to brush my hair away from my face.

I tried to feel him through the bond, to get the reassurance, but I couldn`t. He was probably asleep or maybe I was just too far away, but it made me sad. I really wanted the little reminder of him.

The lonely tear brought a few friends and suddenly I was in full cry-mode. I cried and I vomited and I just felt sorry for myself.

When my stomach was empty, I got up, sniffed away the last tears, washed my face and went looking for food.

Xxxx

"Please fasten your seatbelts. We are getting ready for landing at Oslo Airport, Torp," a voice called out from the loudspeakers.

I had eaten a delicious dinner I had warmed in the microwave and was now sitting in my seat, trying to buckle up. I looked out of the window and saw high mountains with snow and tiny islands out in the sea. It looked a little like the sea I had sailed through not so long ago (or a thousand years ago depending how you looked at it) and the islands and mountains I had stared at, trying to determine where I was.

A tiny airport came out of the horizon and soon I was swallowing heavily again. I tried my best not to throw up and was happy when I actually succeeded. I drew a breath and looked at my new papers.

I was apparently the Norwegian citizen Susanne Sørensen, born in the, to me unknown, city of Tønsberg. The birth date was the same, but I had magically become a year younger. I felt like Zsa Zsa Gabor all of the sudden, lying myself younger than I was.

Xxxx

If I had been afraid Norwegian customs would notice any un-Norwegian behavior from me, I was wrong. They just waved me through without even looking at my passport. I was relieved because I would not have been able to lie even if my life depended on it. And my life probably did.

Outside I was greeted by a tall, young man with hair so blond it was almost white. His eyes were even lighter blue than Eric`s and his smile was wide. And white.

"Susanne Sørensen?" he asked.

"Uh huh." I tried to answer in a way that wouldn`t give my real nationality away. Though, for all I knew, Norwegians didn`t even say `Uh huh`.

He walked closer to me and spoke in English. "Welcome to Norway. We`ll teach you Norwegian in no time, but for the time being we will just speak English."

I nodded.

He gave me his hand. "I`m Sjur Prestegården." I took his hand, but I didn`t catch his name at all. He must have seen it because he repeated himself. When I still looked like one huge question mark, he said his first name slowly. "It`s pronounced almost the way you say `sure`. So just call me `Sure` and we`ll be fine."

"Sure," I said, both in an effort to say his name and in agreement.

He smiled a 1000 Watt smile and I couldn`t help smiling back. If it hadn`t been for Eric I might have been attracted to him. That was when I realized I couldn`t hear his thoughts.

"What are you?" I asked.

"Oh, I`m sorry. I`m Steinngrim`s day man." I must have looked at him funny, because he laughed. "And no, I`m not gay, if you are worried about that."

I shook my head. "No, why would I mind if you were gay?"

He waggled his eyebrows and I groaned. He was flirting with me? His winking answered that question, but he still hadn`t told me what he was.

Without thinking, I took his hand again, to feel him, feel his true nature.

"You work fast, Susanne. I like that." If he had waggled his eyebrows any harder, they would both have come off. I almost wanted to see that.

"No," I said with a sigh. "I was just wondering what you were. What kind of supe you are. You don`t feel human."

He was surprised first, but then his smile was back. "You mean because you can`t read my mind?" Now he looked so proud I almost wanted to slap him.

"Yes."

"Steinngrim taught me how to keep my thoughts to myself. It`s not that often I get to practice it. I mean, Steinngrim is the only telepath I know, so I was really excited when I heard of your ability. You not hearing me feels like I graduated. Like you gave me the stamp of approval."

I was getting annoyed by Sjur`s boyish charm, but it could have been because I was tired. I gave him a smile. Or at least a facial expression that was as close to a smile as I could muster.

"That`s impressive, Sjur. Now, I`m sorry for being such a drag, but I`m dead tired and I would really love it if we could go to wherever we are going."

Sjur looked at me and his smile disappeared. Suddenly he was all arms and legs and if I hadn`t stood my ground, he would have carried me.

"I`m so sorry, Susanne. I`m so sorry. Just sit down here for a moment while I retrieve your luggage and Steinngrim`s coffin and we will be on our way."

Xxxx

A couple of hours later I was in a soft bed in a nice bedroom in what looked like an old castle. And by old, I mean really old. Viking Age old. The alarm clock on the night stand and the modern mattress under me told me I was still in my own time, but I could have been fooled. Furniture, curtains, fur rugs and the castle itself had me wondering if I had been taken back in time again.

I was half asleep, half awake, when I heard a soft knock on the door.

"Yes," I called out.

Steinngrim`s head peeped in. I hadn`t noticed it had become dark again.

"I need to talk to you, Sook… Susanne."

I sat up in bed and nodded. Steinngrim`s face looked grim and a sudden fear hit me. He was carrying a laptop – another thing that didn`t fit into the room.

"I`ve found some news here you have to read."

Steinngrim put the laptop in my lap and opened it. I looked at the news site he had found. It was apparently from Nevada, with news about people winning millions and ads from various casinos. Then I focused on the news article in the middle. I gasped.

"Plane crashed in desert," the headline said. "A small plane crashed just south of Las Vegas at 2:30 this morning. Louisiana resident Sookie Stackhouse (27) died in the plane crash. Two vampires are believed to have met their final deaths too."

I couldn`t read the rest of the article because the room had decided to play spinning wheels with me. Steinngrim held me close and I was thankful he was the hugging kind of vampire, as rare as they were. I leaned over and started to cry into his shirt. When I remembered how Eric had reacted when I cried into his shirts or jackets, I cried even harder. How could I survive if Eric was gone?

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you don`t all hate me now. All I can say is, the story isn`t over until the fat lady sings.

* * *

**Scandinavian people**

Now that I have you all hating me (?!), I might as well throw in something controversial as my information on Scandinavia today – so all my fellow Scandinavians can hate me too… (just kidding – I hope).

I was born and raised in Denmark, have lived in Sweden and now live in Norway. Though the Scandinavians are pretty much alike seen from the outside, there are some national differences. Here is a quick run-through. And these are of course my own very personal observations:-D

There are 9 million Swedes, 5 million Danes and 4 million Norwegians. Needless to say that Sweden feels like the big brother in Scandinavia. And is resented for it in Denmark and Norway. The three countries are really like three siblings. They love each other, but also quarrel all the time.

**Swedes**: They are often looked at as the "perfect" ones in Scandinavia. They dress well, the do the right things, they have profitable and well known international companies and they even have musicians, actors and directors who have international fame. Danes and Norwegians hate that. Danes generally think Swedes are a bit boring and they make fun of Sweden and all the rules and regulations (you can`t even buy wine in the supermarket – the horror).

The worst part about Swedes, when looked at from the other two countries – they don`t really care about Denmark and Norway. They are the worst at understanding other Scandinavian language (so Danes and Norwegians speak half-Swedish to them) and they know very little about the cultural life in the two neighbor countries. Especially for Norwegians, who know absolutely EVERYTHING about Sweden, this is a very bitter pill to swallow.

**Danes**: They are often looked at as the cozy and slightly anarchistic ones in Scandinavia. They can`t dress at all, they are slightly overweight, they are definitely tradesmen but it`s with a beer and a handshake. They have managed to make Norwegians believe Denmark is all "hygge" (a Danish word for being cozy, relaxed, enjoying yourself in the company of others) when the country actually is the one with the largest internal conflicts. Danes can discuss – and they love doing it. Most Norwegians and Swedes love Danes until they meet them…

Danes think of themselves as more continental than Swedes and Norwegians. Danish sounds very differently from Swedish and Norwegian, but written it`s almost the same.

**Norwegians**: They are the little brother in Scandinavia and the other two other countries usually see them as naïve, cute, but not very cool. They were the poor cousin from the countryside up until Norway found oil and became the rich ones in Scandinavia. The other two countries recent that and feel they never worked for their wealth. Norwegians have a self esteem problem and hate the fact that there are no famous Norwegian actors (not since Liv Ullman and honestly – how famous was she?) or musicians (not since A-ha). They are proud of their classics like Henrik Ibsen (A Dollhouse) and Edward Munch (Scream), though.

Norwegians are the sporty ones in Scandinavia. No surprise they won 9 gold medals, 8 silver and 6 bronze in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver – and was the 4th best country, even as tiny as it is. Norwegians also climb mountains and cross the Poles. A friend of mine just crossed the South Pole with no help – as the first person in the world. And she is an ittybitty woman of 50 kilos.

**Jokes**

Norwegians tell jokes about the Swedes (_Why do Swedes always bring a rock when they visit the jungle? Because then, if they meet a dangerous animal, they can drop the rock and run much faster_), the Swedes tell jokes about the Norwegians (_How do Norwegians kill a wasp? They chase it under a dresser and then they saw off the legs of the dresser_) and Danes tell jokes about the people of the second largest Danish city – Århus (_Why do people from Århus stand by the windows when there`s a thunderstorm? They think they are being photographed_). Yeah, I never said we had a sense of humor…

The three thinnest books in the world are about:

Norwegian humor

Danish compromises

Laidback Swedes


	21. Chapter 21

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 21**

**A/N:**

100 reviews for the last chapter. I am amazed, stunned and so very grateful! And most of you thought I couldn`t kill off Eric? *whistles innocently* .

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for reading this and for correcting my mistakes – even if they repeat themselves ever so often.

Rascalthemutant has been busy. A couple of days ago she set up a new fanfic site for Alexander Skarsgård related fics (True Blood/SVM, Generation Kill, his Swedish movies, Real Person fics etc). It`s still pretty empty, but you are all very welcome to post your stories there as a back up to this site. The address is **www . alexanderskarsgardlibrary . com / fanfic**

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

"_I`ve found some news here you have to read."_

_Steinngrim put the laptop in my lap and opened it. I looked at the news site he had found. It was apparently from Nevada, with news about people winning millions and adds from various casinos. Then I focused on the news article in the middle. I gasped._

"_Plane crashed in dessert," the headline said. "A small plane crashed just south of Las Vegas at 2:30 this morning. Louisiana resident Sookie Stackhouse (27) died in the plane crash. Two vampires are believed to have met their final deaths too."_

_I couldn`t read the rest of the article because the room had decided to play spinning wheels with me. Steinngrim held me close and I was thankful he was the hugging kind of vampire, as rare as they were. I leaned over and started to cry into his shirt. When I remembered how Eric had reacted when I cried into his shirts or jackets, I cried even harder. How could I survive if Eric was gone?_

* * *

**Chapter 21:**

"Eric did what he had to do to keep you and the baby safe," Steinngrim said while rubbing a comforting arm up and down my back.

"But why did he sacrifice himself? And Pam? He could have come with me and faked his death – just like he faked mine. Felipe de Castro wouldn`t have followed him here, would he?"

New tears fell down my cheeks. I tried desperately to feel Eric through the bond, but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Steinngrimm pulled me closer.

"Eric owed fealty to two vampires, you know. Felipe de Castro might not have followed Eric here and he might have believed him to be dead if it was orchestrated well enough." Steinngrim took an unnecessary breath. "But Eric was concerned about his maker. Appius would feel through the master-child bond if Eric was alive. Appius was not an … easy master." Steinngrim sighed. "It would not have been … Eric didn`t want … it would have been a disaster if Appius ever found out that you expected Eric`s baby."

I broke down in tears again.

"But Eric didn`t have to die. He could have stayed away for some time and then…"

"Eric couldn`t risk Appius forcing him to lead him to you. Even before you were pregnant Eric was worried about Appius. You became quite famous in the vampire world after Rhodes and of course Felipe de Castro has been bragging through the vamp-vine."

I couldn`t help making a guttural sound that was the closest I could come to a laughter. "Vamp-vine?"

"Yeah, if you pay attention, you learn stuff. I, of course, keep a very low profile. But I listen in and I know how Felipe de Castro told everyone about having Eric owe him fealty and getting a telepath as part of the bargain." Steinngrim stroked my hair. "Now, I don`t know where Appius has been the last 100 years, but news like that might just bring him out from that rock he crawled under."

I lifted my head and looked at Steinngrim.

"He is that bad?"

"He is worse. What he did to Eric. I mean, we were all put through stuff. Just being turned is in itself a violation. I mean, our makers kill us."

"That`s what I tried telling Pam."

"But we get used to it. Some of us even embrace it. And those who don`t… well, they don`t last long."

"What about your maker? Who is she?"

"Was. She is no more or I couldn`t have been a king."

"You can`t be king if your maker is alive?"

"No, think of it. You need to have free hands to be a king or a queen. You can`t be overruled by anyone if you are to rule." Steinngrim took a long break. I was sniffing and sobbing and he was quietly comforting me. "My maker was Appius` sister Claudia."

"You mean his biological sister?"

"Yes. They were turned together. She was cunning enough, but not as mean as he was. He was all about power and fighting, which was why he turned Eric. She wanted knowledge so she turned me. Of course that didn`t turn out as planned."

"Because you lost your telepathy?"

"Yes, for one. It also turned out Eric wasn`t as easily broken as Appius had planned. But that just made it more fun for him."

I nodded, not really knowing what he was implying. But I didn`t need any graphic descriptions of rape and torture. Not when Eric was dead. Dead in his attempts to protect me from the same abuse.

I started crying again and we sat there for a long time. Then Steinngrim laid me down on my bed and I fell asleep.

Xxxx

I had lost my parents, I had been abused by my uncle, I had lost my grandmother, I had been attacked, raped, beaten – and yet, I had never been so miserable as I was now.

I had lost my desire to live and if it hadn`t been for the baby, I would have given up.

Steinngrim was considerate and Sjur was with me all the time when the sun was up. I got a bit annoyed when I noticed him keeping guard outside the bathroom when I was taking care of my basic needs. He wasn`t obvious about it, but I saw how he was always doing something close to the bathroom – or even standing right outside at times. He claimed he was `waiting in line`, but Steinngrim`s castle had a dozen bathrooms, at least.

I was obviously on some kind of suicide watch that was both touching and getting on my nerves.

As spring turned to summer, I saw less of Steinngrim since he was hyper-allergic to the sun that was up all day. From time to time I prodded the bond in the middle of the night to see if Eric really was finally dead, but I never felt anything. I tried at daytime too, in the morning, in the evening. I tried at all hours just to be sure. If he was alive, he might be in any time zone. But the bond was dead. There was nothing there.

I felt miserable and only my growing stomach kept me going. And Sjur.

Sjur saw to my needs, both the practical ones and the mental. He took me to a doctor for checkups on the baby (everything was fine), taught me Norwegian and set me up with my first job. I was teaching Norse to a group of history students. The job was great and I found out I was actually quite a good teacher.

Sjur took me out to dinners and movies. And he made me laugh. Sjur was laid-back and funny and I relaxed in his company. He wasn`t Eric, but he helped me in keeping the thoughts away.

At night my mind ran its own special movie – an adult rated one called `The Best Moments of Eric and Sookie.` It always made me cry, but it somehow brought me comfort too. I often cursed myself for having known Eric for so long and only recently allowing myself to love him. I knew, of course, that I hadn`t had any alternative, but now it seemed as if we had been wasting so much time.

In my mind I let Eric bathe me in Dallas instead of just letting him remove pieces of glass. I edited away Bill after the orgy and Bubba never showed up at Russell Edgington`s mansion. Eric`s memory loss lasted longer which allowed him to stay at my house longer and I never stayed away from him afterwards. Actually I told him just everything we had said and done at my house. My mind gave me all these nice little shots at what might have been if the world had been a nicer place and vampire politics had been non-existent.

My inner cinema also ran some special editions of my time back when Eric was human. All the things I had done with a care-free Viking Eric. Those memories warmed my heart the most because they were so free of supe politics – not to mention violence and pain.

In the daytime I let my job exhaust me and tried to think as little as possible.

Xxxx

It was Midsummer and Sjur and I celebrated with a bonfire and shrimps we peeled ourselves. It took me forever to learn how to get the little rascals out of their shells (head first, then tail) and we laughed at my clumsiness.

Sjur was drinking white wine and I had orange juice. For a woman who had risked my life several times over the last couple of years, I had become very careful. My life had been turned upside down, I couldn`t contact any of my friends or family and I had lost the love of my life but I was taking care of the one thing I had left. My baby. So no wine, no gin and tonics and not even diet coke.

Sjur, on the other hand, was drinking for two. I loved Sjur`s easygoing fun and he had a special way of cheering me up when I was down, so I accepted his need for alcohol this night. Apparently Midsummer was a big thing in this country and alcohol was mandatory.

My baby bump had just started to show and I was absentmindedly stroking my stomach as I sat on the beach, looking at the bonfire and the sun going down in the sea. It was a spectacular view and I felt an inner peace I hadn`t felt in a long time.

Sjur`s hand came up next to mine on my stomach, stroking it. I remembered pregnant friends complaining over how their baby bumps were suddenly common property and stories about strangers suddenly touching them in supermarkets sprang to mind.

"It won`t be long before you will feel your baby move for the first time," Sjur said, looking at my stomach. "A month or so, maybe two."

I turned my head in Sjur`s direction. "Do you have children?"

He laughed. "Not that I know of. But I lived with my sister when she had her first one. What are you now, three-four months pregnant?"

I knew by the week just how pregnant I was, but I just nodded.

"And your nausea is better?"

I nodded again. I had thrown up about everything I had eaten the first two months I was in Norway, but from one day to the next, the nausea was gone. And with me keeping my food down, I got more strength and was less depressed.

Sjur`s hand caressed my stomach for a few minutes, but suddenly it travelled upwards to my breast. First I just stared at it, as in `what is he doing?`, but then I got a grip on myself and moved his hand away.

"Oh, Susanne. You don`t know what you are doing to me." Sjur moved closer and I felt his arm around my shoulder. Sjur had had his arm around my shoulder plenty of times, but it didn`t sit right now that his hand had just been on my breast.

"Don`t," I said.

"I can`t help it. You are… I just…." He was looking for words. "I will give you all the time you need, Susanne. I just want to say that I would consider your child my own, if you would let me. Your child could have a father."

"My child has a father." I started to get up, but I wasn`t as agile as I had been before the baby.

Sjur held me back.

"I know, Susanne. Please don`t get me wrong. I know you are mourning Eric. I know you still love him. I was just hoping that somewhere, sometime, there would be a little room in your heart for me."

I was getting uncomfortable with the situation. If it hadn`t been for Eric, I would probably have welcomed Sjur`s advances. Sjur was sweet and gentle. He was considerate and fun. I didn`t know how I had come to deserve his feelings, but for some reason they were there.

I turned towards Sjur.

"You should find someone better. Someone less tainted."

"I don`t want anyone else." Sjur took both my hands. "I want you."

"Please, Sjur… I can`t."

"I know. And I probably wouldn`t have said it if I hadn`t been drunk." Sjur looked down, but his hand traveled back to my shoulder. He even gave me a little squeeze.

The sun was down, but it wasn`t really getting dark. The sky was very dark blue and the stars were coming out. Combined with the bonfire and the easy waves hitting the beach, this was a lovely night. Romantic, one could say. But I had the wrong guy`s arm around me.

Suddenly a wave of joy and anticipation hit me. It wasn`t strong, but it was there. I sighed with pleasure because it was the first time I had really felt joy in a long time. Sjur took it as a sign and pulled me closer. We sat like that for some time while I was trying to sort out all the strange emotions I was feeling. Love, happiness and then suddenly anger. And jealousy.

The feeling of jealousy was so strong, I withdrew from Sjur. Then another wave of jealousy and anger hit me and I got up. Those weren`t my feelings. Those were…. Erics`s. I gasped. I looked around, but Eric wasn`t there.

"I have to get back, Sjur."

I almost ran back to Steinngrim`s castle and through the corridors to Steinngrim`s office. I stopped in my tracks when I heard a familiar voice boom.

"You couldn`t have let a woman look after her? You should have known I wasn`t dead. I don`t die that easily!" Eric yelled so I could hear it at the other end of the corridor.

"Relax, Eric! Sjur is just her friend. Nothing has happened between them."

"But you planned on Sookie to…" Eric was angry.

"She is called Susanne now. I planned on nothing, Eric. I just wanted her to be safe in the daytime too. And who better to look after her than someone who actually liked her."

"I knew I shouldn`t have trusted you, you manipulative bastard."

"Fuck you, Eric. It was Appius and you know it. Will you fucking let it go? And I did not manipulate Susanne to do anything. She was heartbroken because of you and to tell you the truth – Sjur`s main task has been to keep her from … well, from killing herself. What were you thinking not involving her in your plans? I can understand why you didn`t want me to know you were planning on doing a Lazarus, but you could have told her."

I continued down the corridor and entered the room. I wanted to throw myself at Eric, but when I saw him I gasped instead.

He looked awful. His golden hair had lost all its shine, his skin was even whiter than usual and his eyes looked dead.

"Eric?" I whispered. I couldn`t believe I was looking at him. Then I saw Pam. She looked her wholesome self, the eternal milk lady. "Pam." Why did one look like he had been through all four stomachs of the cow and the other as if she had been bathing in cream?

I was almost knocked over by a string of emotions, jealousy being one of them. And then they suddenly disappeared.

If Stackhouses had been fainters, I would have been lying on the floor, but we weren`t, so I stood there as a statue, not knowing where to go or what to do.

Then Eric whispered "Lover". It was the magic word and I flung myself at him like I never had before.

I had missed him so much.

* * *

**A/N:**

You were all quite right. OF COURSE I couldn`t kill Eric. As one of you wrote – there`s a rule against killing Eric :-D

Eric is back, but don`t expect them to buy the little cottage with the white picket fence just yet.

* * *

**Scandinavian weather**

I`ve been asked to write about our climate – the reason why we are broody, depressive and not particularly talkative. It`s too freaking cold to talk!

A lot of us have little artificial suns on our breakfast tables or in our offices. No, it`s not a sun tanner, but a lamp that tricks our brains into thinking that we made a smarter choice of home country (somewhere further to the South), thus keeping Winter depressions away.

And why do we need this? Because it`s dark from November till March. Then of course it`s sun from May till August so I guess it evens things out somehow.

In the North of Norway and Sweden we have the Midnight sun in the Summer. If you ever go there, please don`t make the mistake we laugh ourselves silly over. Plenty of tourists (and no, I`m not going to name the country they usually come from) have asked their tourist guides where the Midnight sun is and when the guide points at the huge yellow sun on the sky, they answer: "No, not the ordinary sun. Where is the Midnight sun?"

The Midnight sun can cause pretty high temperatures because it never cools down at night. That is, if it doesn`t rain. Which it often does in the summer.

The weather is very different from region to region in Scandinavia. In Denmark it`s so flat, you have wind from the West 12 hours a day 360 days a year. Norwegian tourists, being tricked by the glossy brochures from the Danish Tourist Board, go to the West coast of Denmark, where the beaches are wide, white and sandy soft, bring their toddlers and place them in the sand to build sand castles – only to find that the wind took the sand castle AND the toddler. And German tourists only used to swimming in lakes, fall asleep on air mattresses and wake up when they are half way to England. Yes, it`s windy in Denmark.

Both Sweden and Norway have climates that vary depending on how far you are from the coast. Far from the coast it can be very cold in the winter (my personal record is minus 36 degrees Celcius/ minus 26 Fahrenheit), but it`s dry so it doesn`t feel all that cold. Of course your snot freezes in your nose and your soda freezes before you get to drink it, but you get used to it. Especially since there is almost no wind.

By the coast you have wind and humidity, but the temperatures are higher. At least if you look at the thermometer. It seems so much colder, though.

Therefore: Wear a thick sweater when it`s cold and you are far from the coast. Wear a windproof coat and cover hands, ears and neck when you are by the coast. Or as I would recommend – stay away from the coast at Winter unless you are an even bigger masochist than those of us living here :-O

Do you know why people live in Scandinavia at all? When the ice withdrew from Central Europe after the last Ice Age, most people prospered and enjoyed the rich soil and the warm sun that gave them food and warmth. Those were the normal ones. The ones who knew their own best.

Then you had the minority, the broody masochists, who thought: "Nah, this is getting too easy. Food every day? Boring. No frozen off limbs when you wake up in the morning? Yawn." And so they followed the ice and settled in Scandinavia. They enjoyed life here – because they had found a place where happiness was against nature.

To make sure I`m not thrown out of Scandinavia after this - here is a beautiful collection of pictures from Norway: **www . youtube . com / watch?v=fBN_bReWRgk** Midnight sun, Northern lights and all (this film was hard to find because when I searched for Midnight Sun, I got about a zillion trailers for Twilight *rolls eyes*)

The happiest people on earth (be sure to watch the carpenter`s apprentice/prince at the end ;-D): **www . youtube . com / watch?v=fTGKUwMegZ4&feature=related**

To sum it up: Only mad Scandinavians could show pictures of Winter with the text "the best place in the world" **www . youtube . com / watch?v=gbjCsgSAf-0&feature=related**


	22. Chapter 22

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 22**

**A/N**

So you didn`t think I would kill Eric?

I will have to remind you that I already did kill him in an earlier chapter *giggles*, but I suppose that was really Charlaine Harris` doing – making him a vampire and all. But apart from that – of course you were right. How could I have killed Eric?

Thank you for all your great reviews, PMs and Twitter-responses. I even got a yummy recipe!

As always I`m very grateful to **Rascalthemutant** who works so hard at correcting all my silly mistakes.

And now for something I always forget: I do not own these characters. They belong to **Charlaine Harris** and I love her for creating this wonderful universe I`m playing in.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_If Stackhouses had been fainters, I would have been lying on the floor, but we weren`t, so I stood there as a statue, not knowing where to go or what to do. _

_Then Eric whispered "Lover". It was the magic word and I flung myself at him like I never had before. _

_I had missed him so much._

* * *

**Chapter 22**

Eric opened his arms and I just melted into his embrace. I held him close so as to be sure he was really there. That he wouldn`t disappear. I buried my head in his chest.

Eric held me even closer. "My lover. My love." He whispered into my hair while kissing it. We stood like that for minutes, just feeling each other`s bodies, being close to one another.

After a while, I took one step back and looked at him. He looked horrible.

"I thought you were dead," I whispered. Eric shifted uncomfortably. I noticed Pam looking away.

"I know, sweetheart. You were supposed to."

"Why?" Why would he have had me go through months of deep pain and sorrow?

Eric looked at Steinngrim. "Do you have somewhere where we can be alone?"

Steinngrim got up. "We can leave." He motioned at Pam and Sjur, who had entered the room without me seeing it.

"No, Steinngrim. This is your office. I`ll take Eric to my room."

I noticed Pam sporting a wolfy smile.

"I told you she wouldn`t care that you look like shit," she said to Eric. I couldn`t help smiling and neither could Eric. Well, Eric growled too. A smiling, growling vampire – that was really a sight.

I took Eric`s hand and pulled him to my room. I had hardly closed the door before Eric embraced me again, but this time he pulled away way too soon. He looked at my stomach and then his hand gently touched it.

"How are you?" he asked. "How is the … how is our baby?"

I noticed how he made a point out of calling it `our` baby and snuggled into his arms again. "We`re fine. Now."

Eric sniffed my hair and I sniffed his chest. I usually don`t sniff people, but he smelled different. He smelled like dust and earth – and a little bit of Eric.

"You smell like bonfire," Eric said. There was a tad of jealousy in his voice, but nothing through the bond.

"Yeah. I was down on the beach. I was celebrating Midsummer." I deliberately didn`t mention Sjur. He was just not worth mentioning. I pulled back from him and looked at him. "And what`s the matter with you, coming here on the shortest night of the year?"

Eric laughed. "Not so well planned on my side, perhaps, but this was the first instant I could come to you and I couldn`t wait any longer."

I pulled Eric towards the bathroom and started pulling on his clothes. I wanted to take a shower with him. Be close to him naked. To cleanse him and me. Soon I had him in the bathroom and the water running. Eric gave a deep rumbling sound from his chest and I had his shirt on the floor.

I gasped. Both because it had been a long time since I had had Eric`s naked chest before me and the longing hit me like a hammer on the head. But also because he looked dreadful. He had red marks all over his upper body. Wounds that hadn`t quite healed.

"What happened?" I whispered.

"We have very little time before the sun comes up. I want to wash your hair, give your shoulders a massage and make love to you. We can talk tomorrow."

And then he kissed me. He kissed all my hurting away. All my pain. Every tear I had ever shed over him was forgotten. The only thing that was left of all my thoughts about Eric since I had come to Norway, were the inner dirty movies I had been showing in my brain. And I wanted to make some new ones tonight.

I should have demanded to know why he had stayed away, why he had kept me uninformed, why he looked the way he did, but all I wanted was to get him naked, get close to him mentally and physically.

Our kiss opened tentatively with longing, but soon became greedier. My hands were in his hair, pulling him closer, making sure he wouldn`t disappear. His hands were on my butt and my back, pushing me into his body, grinding me into him.

He pulled my t-shirt off and started opening my shorts and pulling them down. I tried to work his belt buckle and cursed the fact that he wore such a huge one. But I managed to open it in the end and his jeans were on the floor with my shorts.

We moaned and sighed and my heart sang so loud, I was sure everyone could hear it. If one were ever to take a picture of happiness, photographing me kissing Eric would be a good place to start. With all the bad things I had had happening to me all through my life, I could hardly believe my luck.

`Eric is back, Eric is back`, my brain chanted. Of course I should have known Eric wouldn`t just lie down and die, but all this time with Steinngrim telling me Eric had sacrificed himself for me, for our baby, with no information, nothing through the bond, had made me believe Eric was dust in the Nevada desert.

A sudden wave of anger rode through me and it was all my own. I stepped back from Eric and slapped his naked upper arm. Eric winced. From my anger or from the pain, I wasn`t sure.

"Why the hell didn`t you tell me you were alive?"

"I will tell you everything, Lover, but now I want to wash you, make love to you and snuggle with you. You don`t know how much I`ve missed our snuggling."

I, on the other hand, had missed the mischievous smile I got now. I opened my mouth to protest, but a kiss stopped me. When Eric pulled away again, I had momentarily forgotten why I was mad.

The next thing I knew, my bra and panties were off (Eric of course went au naturel) and we were in the shower, washing each other, massaging, getting reacquainted. Eric`s hands were all over my body and he moaned when he touched my breasts – or did the moan come from me? I wasn`t sure.

I hadn`t been last in the line when breasts were handed out, but now the pregnancy had made them even fuller, even rounder, and it didn`t seem as if Eric minded. He had one hand on my breast and the other on my stomach.

"This is perfect, Sookie," he said and I knew he meant the baby.

"Yeah, I guess not many vampires are fathers."

I had meant it as a joke, but Eric gave me a serious look. "I am lucky, Sookie."

I groped his butt. "Oh, you worked hard enough to make it happen. There was sweat involved, let me tell ya."

Eric laughed. "I can imagine. I wish I could remember it, but at least in some parallel universe I got the pleasure of, what do you call it… knocking you up."

Eric poured shampoo in his hand and started massaging it into my scalp. I moaned with pleasure. I took the soap and washed him very thoroughly. His butt, especially, needed cleansing. My breasts were apparently living a life of their own, rubbing themselves on his chest.

"Yeah, and in this universe you get the pleasure of changing diapers."

Eric got serious again. "You will be alone with the baby at day time."

I kissed the tip of Eric`s nose. "I know that, silly. I`ll just make sure the baby needs the heaviest diaper changes at night."

I yanked at his hair to make him bend down and I washed it, making sure his scalp got the same treatment as mine.

"Why, thank you. I will look forward to that." Eric said in an ironic tone. "Me and my vampire nose will definitely be ready for whatever the baby might produce." He stuck out his tongue and I kissed it.

He rinsed my hair and I rinsed his.

"The birth will be in the darkest winter so there`s a good chance you will actually be able to be present." I thought about it for a moment. "If you want. I mean, there is a lot of blood involved. It could be hard for you to watch." I looked at Eric. "But I would appreciate it if you could be there. You could even send strength through the bond."

Eric stepped back. "I can`t use the bond. I`m trying to … this was why I was gone."

Eric got out of the shower, grabbed a towel and held it out for me.

"What happened?"

"I will tell you all about it later, sweetheart. Now I want to rub myself all over you to get my smell on you and not the smell of Steinngrim`s day-man."

"You washed me because you were jealous?" I gaped. "Of Sjur?"

"No, I washed you because I wanted to enjoy your lovely body under the shower. Getting his smell of you was just a bonus."

"And what girls would I be able to smell if I had a vampire nose?" I turned my back to Eric and walked into the bedroom. This was an emotional rollercoaster and I still didn`t know what had happened to Eric.

"Oh, Sookie." Eric shook his head. He was speed drying himself and I had a hard time not staring at his muscular chest and his… I mentally slapped myself. I wanted some truth now.

"No, tell me. You obviously planned on pensioning me off just like Bill did."

"Do not compare me with Bill Compton, Sookie!" Eric`s voice boomed.

"It`s Susanne now, thanks to elaborate plans I didn`t even know about."

"Plans I made to save your life. And the life of our baby."

"And why wasn`t I told? Why did you have me believe you were dead?"

Eric paused and he walked over to the bed where he sat down. He had his head in his hands, much like when I came into my bedroom after the Nevada take-over to find Eric had regained his memory of our days together in my house.

"Because I didn`t know if I would make it."

I gasped and sat down next to him. "What do you mean?" I said in an unsteady voice.

Eric removed his head from his hands and turned in my direction. He took both my hands.

"I have been shackled in silver and almost drained." Eric`s thumbs caressed the back of my hands. "I had Pam do it to me."

"Why?" I couldn`t think of one reason for Eric to submit himself to that kind of torture.

"To severe my bond to Appius. To make sure he would think I was finally dead. Being almost dead from draining and silver, made it easier for me to cut the ties he had on me." Eric looked at me. "Pam was there most of the time, testing if she could feel me. She couldn`t."

Tears filled my eyes. "Neither could I."

"I know, sweetheart." Eric bent over and kissed my forehead. "It was actually the terrible ordeal you went through with the fucking fairies that gave me the idea. Our bond was weakened by the torture you were put through, remember?" Eric whispered the last sentence as if it was hard for him to bring it up.

I nodded.

"Well, it seems to be working for master-child bonds too."

We sat quiet for some time and I was thinking through what he had just told me.

"So Appius is out of your life now?"

"He will think I`m dead."

"And Felipe de Castro?"

"He will know I`m dead. I crashed the plane in Nevada to make sure he would be doing the investigating. He found a part of me there."

"A part of you?"

I followed Eric`s eyes down to his feet. This was when I noticed one of his feet missing the toes and looking reddish and sore.

"Yes, Felipe de Castro found one of my feet, still in my shoe, next to the burning plane."

I looked at Eric with horror, then buried myself in his arms.

"Oh, Eric."

"Don`t worry, Sookie. It`s not the first limb I`ve ever lost. It`s growing back."

"Are you in pain?"

Eric pulled back, grabbed my chin and lifted my head and gave me that very smile only Eric could give.

"How could I be in pain when I`m here with you?"

I laughed and cried simultaneously. "You can`t say cheesy things like that to a pregnant woman. I`m all hormones, you know."

Eric moved backwards, pulling me with him. Soon we were side by side in the bed, Eric lying on my pillow and me propped up on my elbow. We looked at each other, both with a hand caressing the other one`s hair and face.

"Sookie," Eric said in a husky voice. "I want to feel you, make love to you, before I have to retire for the day."

"I want that too," I said, blushing in a sudden attack of shyness.

Eric pulled me down and we kissed while his hand touched my butt and pulled my thigh over his hip. His fingers snaked their way between us and found a warm and hot place where they had been sorely missed. Even when I ran the film festival of hot memories, I had missed the orgasms Eric`s fingers could give me.

"Oh Eric," I moaned into his mouth, enjoying how his fingertips moved up and down, made circles and played with me. His thumb was teasing my nub while his index finger touched me at my entrance, going in and out lazily.

Eric rubbed his very erect Gracious Plenty against my hip and I just had to touch it, feel it. Soon it was throbbing against the palm of my hand and I moved it up and down in the same rhythm Eric was moving in and out of me.

I felt myself getting closer and Eric increased his ministrations, making me rub Eric faster and faster too. Soon we were moaning and grunting in each other`s mouths. I felt a sudden lightness in my head and knew I was going over. When my orgasm hit me, I used the funny letter they had in my new country and a deep "ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ" came from my throat. Eric bucked in my hands a few time and I felt a wetness on my thigh and tremors going through his body.

I was thoroughly sated and Eric made an unnecessary sigh next to me.

"This was what I looked forward to when I was in pain. The thought of this was what made me endure the silver."

I opened my eyes. "This was?" I made a gesture at our lower bodies. "I would have thought you looked forward to something more…" I got up on my knees, pushed Eric to lie on his back, and sat on his thighs. I touched his member and felt it getting hard, very hard, again. There really was something to be said for vampires and their sexual abilities. "Something more like this," I said while I mounted him in a sudden strike of boldness.

"Oh, Sookie," was all the reply I got.

Eric grabbed my hips and I held on to his chest and together we moved him in and out of me in slow, loving movements, looking at each other all the time.

I couldn`t help a tear running down my cheek in pure happiness. Eric sat up and licked it away.

"I can`t guarantee you a life without tears, Sookie, but I hope I will be here to lick them off your face in the future."

I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him close to me, his face to my breast. "You need blood, Eric," I whispered and with that he bit me. I moved faster and Eric`s strong hands helped me. He sucked just a little of my blood, but he took his time doing it, enjoying the taste of it, or so his moans told me. He licked my breast and looked at me. I kissed him on his neck and started sucking on his ear lobe.

I felt the familiar white lights starting to glow and turned my head a little and bit Eric`s neck. He growled and moved me so much faster, throwing me over the edge and into a bliss I had missed for so long. Eric wasn`t far behind and with one loud last grunt, he exploded in a mass of movements and sound.

We fell back on the bed, me on top of Eric. If someone had told me I had gone to Heaven, I would have believed them. After all I had been in Purgatory for so long, it was only fair.

It didn`t take me long to fall asleep and after a while, Eric began to move under me.

"I have to go to a lightproof room," he whispered into my hair.

I blinked and crawled off of him and started to make my way out of the bed.

"I`ll find it. Just stay here and sleep," Eric said.

"No, I want to sleep with you now." I was fully awake and looked at my beautiful Eric. He looked slightly pinker, a little less pained.

"I`ll be dead. You know, you saw me in Rhodes."

"I don`t care. I`m not letting you go now."

Eric smiled a sad smile and pulled me into him. He gave me a kiss.

"Come on, let`s go to sleep. Together," he said.

And we both grabbed our bathrobes and walked out of my room, hand in hand.

* * *

**A/N:**

We needed some fluff, right?

But as you know – the story is not over yet and no little cottages have been purchased by this couple.

* * *

**Languages in Scandinavia**

As you know, we are not very many people – only 18 million – in Scandinavia. But we have a lot of official languages. We call them Nordic and not Scandinavian languages because they are so closely related to Icelandic and the language on the Faroe Islands. This his may be misleading since the Finnish and Sámi languages are very different and though Finland and the regions where the Sámi people live are very much part of the Nordic area, their languages are not part of the Nordic languages. There are 9 different Sámi languages and there are also large groups in Sweden and Norway who speak Finnish.

Here I will only deal with the two official Norwegian languages (yes, the silly four million Norwegians couldn`t agree on one language), Danish and Swedish.

Officially the Norwegian languages belong to West-Nordic languages with Iceland and Faeroese, while Danish and Swedish are the East-Nordic languages. This grouping gives you the wrong picture, though, since Norwegian (and now I`m talking about the largest Norwegian language, Bokmål) is often perceived as being the middle ground between Danish and Swedish.

Or as I tease the Norwegians with: "Norwegian isn`t a language. It`s only Danish pronounced in Swedish."

And this actually says a lot about the differences between the languages. Written, Danish and Norwegian look pretty much like each other. The major difference is that Danish has kept the original spelling of foreign words (station, guide, mayonnaise) whereas Norwegian spells it more like it is pronounced (stasjon, gaid, majones). And Norwegians have made up original Norwegian words instead of importing them – which is something both Danes and Swedes laugh over. Actually some Danes and Swedes think Norwegians have made up more Norwegians than they have. I cannot count the number of times I`ve told especially Swedes that "no, they do call it banan (banana) in Norwegian – not gulebøy (yellowbend)."

Swedish and Norwegian sound very similar. It took me half a year in Norway to be able to hear the difference. Danish sounds very different from the other two. Whereas Swedes and Norwegians "sing" more when they talk, they go up a couple of tones in the end of a sentence to mark a question and down to mark an answer, a Dane can spend all his life using just one tone when he talks. And Danish is much more guttural. Norwegians and Swedes claim they would speak Danish perfectly if they just had a hot potato in their mouths while talking. Yeah right…

There has been talk about making one common language for us all. I fully support that idea, but there is a lot of national pride involved so I guess it would have to be pretty cold a certain place before that would happen.

We are few people and have a lot of languages. Not only that – we also have a lot of letters. We have three more letters than most countries and they are the same in all three Scandinavian countries. But could we agree on how to write them? Noooo.

In Sweden they are: ä/Ä, ö/Ö and å/Å

In Norway and Denmark they are: æ/Æ, ø/Ø and å/Å.

They have the same names and are pronounced almost the same in all three countries. Æ/Ä is pronounced like Sookie would say the `a` in `apple`. Ø/Ö is like the `o` in `world` and Å is pretty close to the `O` in `Oscar`.

So Denmark and Norway have the same letters. Do you think they have situated them the same place on the keyboard to make it easier for us to buy computers/keyboard from each other? Nope. We are crazy people, right?

Not only are we crazy. We are also cheap. We re-use a lot of words, which is driving foreigners trying to learn our languages (or using Google Translate) nuts. The same word can mean a lot of different things.

This is what a conversation can look like as a result of that:

Far, får får får?

Nej, får får ikke får. Får får lam.

(Dad, do sheep get sheep? No, sheep don`t get sheep. Sheep get lambs)

Or

Han åker på en åker

(He is driving on a field)

Or the important one

Skall vi ha sex klokkan sex?

(Shall we have sex at six o`clock?)

Confused? Welcome to the loony bin :-D

Here are a few YouTubes about the Scandinavian languages:

**Mastering Swedish **(from a British radio show): www . youtube . com / watch?v = 66fULfwb2X4

**Saying the Danish tongue twister `Rødgrød med fløde`:** www . youtube . com / watch?v=qQkvqJJvR9U

**Learning how to swear in Norwegian (and other Nordic languages)**: www . youtube . com / watch?v=AkJf0md1kG8

**A Norwegian comedy group making fun of the Danish language** (meaningless guttural sounds). They are speaking English with a "Danish" accent: www . youtube . com / watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk


	23. Chapter 23

**Dead with the Vikings – chapter 23**

**A/N:**

This is the longest I`ve ever kept you waiting for a chapter of this story and I`m sorry. At least the last chapter didn`t have a cliff hanger. I`ve unfortunately been sick and haven`t been able to write on this story. But I want to thank you for all the great reviews and PMs you are sending me. They have kept a smile on my face.

I also want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for reading and correcting this. It must be a tedious affair for her because I never seem to learn the things she is trying to tell me. I keep repeating my mistakes but she never complains. At least not to me :-D.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_It didn`t take me long to fall asleep and after a while, Eric began to move under me._

"_I have to go to a lightproof room," he whispered into my hair. _

_I blinked and crawled off of him and started to make my way out of the bed. _

"_I`ll find it. Just stay here and sleep," Eric said._

"_No, I want to sleep with you now." I was fully awake and looked at my beautiful Eric. He looked slightly pinker, a little less pained. _

"_I`ll be dead. You know, you saw me in Rhodes."_

"_I don`t care. I`m not letting you go now."_

_Eric smiled a sad smile and pulled me into him. He gave me a kiss._

"_Come on, let`s go to sleep. Together," he said. _

_And we both grabbed our bathrobes and walked out of my room, hand in hand. _

* * *

**Chapter 23:**

It sounded so romantic for Eric and me to share the bed all day. And it was to some extent. I couldn`t be apart from him now, not when I had thought he was dead for so long.

But then I was apart from him – even if he was right next to me in bed. Because he was dead, really dead to the world. It wasn`t unnerving because it was Eric and I loved him. It was just that the day got very long when I woke up after my eight hours of sleep, knowing that there would be another ten more before Eric would become un-dead again. I missed him even when I looked at his face.

I really hated the Scandinavian summer.

I spent at least an hour staring at him, memorizing his features and all the little secrets his body kept. He was indeed a handsome man. Not beautiful, because he was way too masculine for that word, but he did not have many flaws and the ones he did, only highlighted his good looks.

I bent down and sniffed his hair, his neck and his chest. I even licked a little. Not sexually, but just to get a taste of him.

And I touched him. Felt the smoothness of his skin and the soft curls on his chest. They pointed down to an area I left alone because touching him there would just not be right. It would be molesting him and he had been molested and raped more than enough in his lifetime. And so had I.

I let my fingers comb through his golden hair. It was soft to the touch. Not as soft as mine since his hair was slightly thicker, but it felt good against my fingertips and my palm.

My heart swelled with the sight, smell, taste and feeling of Eric. He was mine. He was indeed mine. He had gone through pain I couldn`t imagine to save me and our baby. Eric wasn`t one to sacrifice himself. He was a survivor. He may have been reckless in battle (and driving his car), but never one to give up his life freely.

And yet he had gone through with his plans, not knowing for sure he would survive.

I had been angry that he kept his plans from me, but my relief swallowed all my anger. Looking at him now I knew I couldn`t be angry with him for what he had done. I wished he had discussed it with me, included me in the planning, but being next to him in bed, I couldn`t be anything but happy.

And hungry. Suddenly my body announced several needs I had to take care of. I sighed because I didn`t want to leave Eric`s side, but there was no way I could go without a trip to the bathroom and the kitchen before he woke up.

I went to the bathroom and took a shower now that I was there. I washed my hair, shaved and afterwards I spent more time than usual on primping myself. My nails, my hair, my feet, my skin - all of me looked, felt and smelled better than they had in a long time. My babybump got an extra amount of cream and I massaged it while humming lightly to the baby inside.

I got dressed in shorts and t-shirt, hoping the weather was as good as yesterday. In this country, you never knew until you looked out the window.

My first stop was the kitchen where I fried myself a couple of eggs and some bacon. I was grateful to whoever had stocked the fridge because I was starving. I toasted a few slices of bread on the flat toaster I would never get used to, and poured a glass of orange juice while waiting for the coffee maker to give me the magic elixir. I sat down and ate until I was full and then I ate another piece of toast with butter for good measure.

The coffee maker had made me a pot of coffee and I was standing with my back to the door while pouring some into my cup when I heard a noise behind me.

"Is there enough for me too?"

It was Sjur standing in the doorway, not really daring to step into the kitchen.

"I believe there is."

I got him a cup and poured coffee into it. He walked over to me in silence and sat down at the table when I did. It was a bit awkward after last night, but I liked Sjur as a friend and didn`t want to lose him. Then again, I would rather lose him than have him around me jealous.

I looked at him, waiting for him to say something. I am not one of those girls who gets uncomfortable if there isn`t an ongoing conversation in the room, so I just waited for him to start talking. He let his fingers run through that very blond hair and let out a small cough. Apparently he had a harder time dealing with silence than I did.

"Sookie…" My eyes were on him as he started talking. I even gave him a small, encouraging smile which seemed to make it easier for him. "Look, I`m sorry about yesterday. I mean, I knew you loved Eric and I should never have…" He drew a breath and seemed to lack words.

"No, you shouldn`t have." I used my softest voice.

Sjur smiled a tentative smile. He opened his mouth again, but I was not in the mood for dissecting his actions so I shook my head lightly to let him know that we had finished discussing the subject.

We sat in quiet for some time, but I could almost hear the little wheels in Sjur`s head turn and finally he opened his mouth again.

"Did Eric really try to sever his link, or whatever it is, to his master? Pam told us about it."

I nodded. "Yes, with silver." An involuntary shudder came over my body. I still hadn`t accepted the fact that Eric had been tied up in silver for so long.

"Is it working?"

"I certainly hope so." And now I started to feel sick. Not the sickness I had felt when I was earlier in my pregnancy, but sick at the thought of what would happen if it didn`t work.

"If you need me, I`ll be glad to offer any help I can give." Sjur smiled a genuine smile but I had no idea what he meant.

"Help with…?"

"Suppressing the bond. I mean, I`ve managed to keep Steinngrim out of my head. I know the Master-Child bond is something else completely, but it couldn`t hurt, could it? I mean, using mental strength in addition to the silver. Because some day he will be well and strong from the silver torture and where will that leave him?"

I sighed. In the back of my mind the question was there, but I hadn`t wanted to think it actively. What when Eric was well-fed and happy? Would the bond come back? And what about what I had felt from Eric when I was down at the beach yesterday? Could Appius feel that too?

"Would you do that for Eric?"

"Of course. I mean, Steinngrim loves him and so do you. Why wouldn`t I help him? Obviously I don`t know him yet, but Steinngrim has talked so much about him and he almost feels like the long lost brother to me too."

"Steinngrim has talked about Eric?"

"Oh yes. Eric means a lot to Steinngrim. They had some kind of falling out, though. Appius played them up against each other or something. I never really got the details, but Eric was bitter at Steinngrim when he left."

"Eric is never bitter at anyone. He either accepts or he strikes. He isn`t bitter."

Sjur smiled and shrugged. "Well, that was how Steinngrim saw it anyway. And now Eric is back and Steinngrim is thrilled." Sjur looked at me. "Not of the circumstances, of course, but glad to have a chance to repair the friendship."

"I didn`t think vampires had friends," I said.

"Steinngrim does." Sjur looked at me with all the naiveté I had lost years ago and those very light blue eyes could contain a lot. "That`s his vampire strength. He rules not through fear, but through being liked."

I had seen another vampire who ruled though, not being liked, but by being adored. But she could only be adored by her own children, not vampires with other masters. Sophie-Anne had the special gift that she could keep her children close and they would go through Hell and high water for her. I didn`t know about the high water, but it seemed a few of her children actually went through Hell. And she ended up finally dead.

"There will always be vampires who don`t like him. Can he defend himself?"

Sjur laughed as if I was the silliest girl he had ever met or that I had told a great joke.

"You should not be confused by his mild ways. Steinngrim may be king of a country few want, but there have been those who tried to take it. He can swing his sword like the best of them."

I remembered how he wasn`t even allowed to fight when he was alive, but didn`t mention it. Sjur must have seen the look on my face.

"I never thought you to be homophobic, Sookie?" Sjur seemed surprised and so was I.

"What? No." I shook my head. "It`s just that he never fought or went to battle when he was alive. I was just surprised he fought now."

Sjur shook his head. "Sjur was alive for what 25, maybe 30 years. He has been a vampire for a thousand. He may have picked up a thing or two during that time."

I nodded and felt completely stupid. Pam hadn`t been a warrior when she was turned and she could fight like the best of them now. Even in pumps.

"So you`re saying Steinngrim can fight?"

"Oh, he can fight. And he is teaching his fighting skills to vampires and humans alike. He taught me how to swing the sword," Sjur grinned. Then he looked at me. "Eric is good with the sword, right?"

"I guess." I tried not to remember his naked torso when he fought the Holmgang back in the Viking Age, but I couldn`t keep the image away. It made me blush.

Sjur laughed out loud. "Oh, you have seen him fight. It`s a fantastic weapon, isn`t it?"

It wasn`t the weapon that made me blush, but I nodded.

"So maybe Eric would give classes too?" Sjur looked like a kid asking for candy just before dinner.

"I could ask him," I smiled.

"You would do that?"

"Of course. I`m sure he would love to be of use here. I mean, he isn`t sheriff anymore and needs something…." I trailed off.

I started to think about everything Eric had given up. He loved being a sheriff and was a pretty good one too. And he loved his Fangtasia. He was a good employer and seemed to have fun being the head honcho strutting his stuff there. I wondered who had inherited his fangy funspot.

"That`s great! Well, I`d better get on with things. What are you doing today?"

I just smiled at Sjur because for the first time in my life, I would spend all my day waiting for a guy to wake up.

Xxxx

I went out in the sunshine. It wasn`t the same humid heat as back home, but it was warm enough to wear a bikini. I didn`t bring one of my usual romance novels. I figured I had all the romance I could take in my own life and just leaned back and added to my inner movie theater.

After a while I went inside to have dinner. There would still be a couple of hours before Eric would wake up, but I couldn`t wait any longer, so after I had eaten, I went back to the bedroom he was sleeping in, looked at him and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I didn`t put on a pajamas, but just got undressed and walked back and crept under the covers naked. Maybe this country was rubbing off on me after all?

Eric was in the same position as when I had left him. Most people toss and turn in their sleep, but vampires didn`t. I situated my head on my favorite part of his shoulder and played a little with his blond chest hair. It looked almost golden in the light from the lamp on the bedside table. I kissed his nipple and before I knew it, I was asleep.

Xxxx

A small rumble in Eric`s chest woke me up. I lifted my head and looked straight into the happiest blue eyes I`d ever seen.

"I could get used to waking up like this every evening, Lover," he said in a husky voice.

"I guess we will just have to make a habit of it then," I smiled and felt his large hand on my thigh. He rolled over on his side and started kissing my neck while sniffing.

"I smell the sun on you. It`s the most delicious smell." His hand travelled over my hip and to my stomach. He palmed the baby-bump and caressed it. "And Påsan is well too?"

"Påsan?"

"My little guy." Eric smiled to me.

"_Your_ little guy?" I looked at him. "Your little _guy?"_

"Or Vesla," he whispered. "Our little girl."

"Are those names you thought out because I may have to object to them?" I`d never wanted a son called Påsan or a girl called Vesla. I`d never even heard the names before.

Eric`s laughter roared. "No, my love, those are not names. They are … endearments. `Påsan` is a little boy and `Vesla` is a little girl."

I smiled. "I like that. And what am I?"

"Oh, you are my Dear One, my Little One, my Darling, my Pledged, my Lover, my Love and soon to be my very well-fucked wife."

"Is that so?" I giggled.

I never got an answer, at least not verbally. But he was right. I was soon to be his very well-fucked wife. Very well-fucked indeed.

Xxxx

It was a very happy time. The nights were short, but they got longer. Eric started teaching sword-fighting and learning how to block himself from everyone he had a connection to. I had never liked all the emotions I received through the bond, but I almost missed them now they were gone. But I was pleased too, because if I didn`t feel him through the bond, then neither did Appius. Or so we hoped.

Pam left us after a week swearing loudly over the short Scandinavian nights and saying to Eric she would `fix things`. She called us once a week or Eric called her. The first question was always if she could feel him, but she never could. Gran had taught me to give people privacy when they were on the phone so I always left the room when Pam called. I still knew Pam was involved in something that interested Eric a great deal. Sometimes he would pace back and forth after the conversations and sometimes he would go online to work on something.

My stomach grew and the baby had sense enough to kick for the first time at night. I teased Eric that I had already taught Påsan or Vesla to scream at night too so that he could get all the benefits of being a father. That just made him smile and hug me.

We got ourselves our own little house. It wasn`t anything spectacular, but neither Eric nor I wanted that. We wanted a place to feel like home and we found it. It had a huge basement too, which was nice. I had told Eric we could always make a vampire-proof room in the bottom of my closet like in Bon Temps, but he didn`t find that very funny. I didn`t get to see my six-foot-four vampire roll his eyes very often, but he did it when he was reminded of the small space I had offered him in my house.

We were like any other couple expecting a baby: buying a house, hugging and kissing each other, and I felt comfortable with that. Sometimes, at daytime, I wondered if Eric was content, if giving up everything he loved would someday come back and bite me in the butt, but for the time being, Eric seemed very happy.

And at daytime I couldn`t help missing Bon Temps and everyone there, but at nighttime I missed nothing and no one. Luckily nights were getting longer.

xxxx

Summer turned to fall, and I had just started to enjoy the longer nights I shared with Eric, when Pam called for one of her weekly conversations with Eric. I was closest to the phone so I answered it.

"Hi there, Stepmum." This was Pam`s favorite name for me. I could never help laughing when she said it and it beat `Stepmistress` as she had called me on occasion.

"If it isn`t my step-child?" I answered her back. She always loved that.

"So how fat are you now?"

"Think hippo on my way to elephant," I snorted.

"Yikes. And you are doing ok?"

I sighed. "Pam, you didn`t call to ask me about my back pains or my lack of bladder control." I said the latter in a futile attempt to embarrass Pam, but I only managed to make myself blush. There had been times where I had been forced to run for the bathroom when I`d rather be doing more fun things with Eric.

"You`re right. So where is the big, bad Viking-daddy?"

"Right next to me, waiting for me to hand over the phone."

And he was. Eric had been more and more anxious to talk to Pam lately and deep in the back of my mind, I didn`t like it much. But I had taken so much from him, I didn`t want to take away whatever he and Pam were cooking up, too.

Eric almost tore the phone out of my hand and I left the room. I wanted to eavesdrop, but I knew I would regret it if I did, so I went out of the room with my Anita Blake book. I had started to read vampire books instead of my usual romance novels. They were as fun as the Buffy the Vampire Slayer videos I had left in Bon Temps. Only difference, Tara had bought me the Buffy-videos. I had ordered Anita Blake all by myself. And Black Dagger Brotherhood. And a few other series.

Eric had laughed when he saw them.

"Those books were great for business in Fangtasia."

"You`ve read them?"

"No, but Pam told me about them. A lot of sex hmmm out of the ordinary, she informed me."

"I`m sure she didn`t put it that way?"

"No, actually she mentioned threesomes and fivesomes and metaphysical sex that could kill you."

"And that was good for business?"

"Oh yes. People thought we were all that."

"`We` as in vampires?"

Eric had nodded. "Vampires being so much in fashion these days made us a lot of money."

A little cloud had gone over Eric`s face. It had been fast, but I had noticed it. And now I couldn`t stop thinking about it. Eric was scheming with Pam and I only hoped it would bring him something like Fangtasia. Something he could enjoy more than just teaching kids to fight with swords.

I was sitting on our bed, nose deep in my book, blushing because there had been yet another scene that got me all hot and bothered, when Eric entered.

I looked up from my book and noticed the knowing smile on Eric. He could not read me through the bond, but he could read my flustered look and it said all about what I had been reading.

"Is it Jean-Claude?" he asked. Pam had apparently told him about Anita Blake`s lovers.

"Eh, no. Micah."

Eric nodded. "Ah, the shifter." He snickered on his way out to the bathroom.

"So what`s up with Pam?" I said to the half open door.

"She might need me very soon," he answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world. For him it might just be.

"What?" I asked and tried very hard to keep my voice normal.

Eric popped his head in and looked at me. "Pam might need me." He then walked over to the bed, laid down next to me and took the book out of my hand, being careful to put the bookmark on the page I was reading. "Pam will need me to help her out."

"And you will go?" Still keeping my voice steady. Bully for me.

Eric pulled me into his body. Either he didn`t know how uncomfortable the conversation made me or he knew it very well.

"Yes, I will go, Sookie." He kissed my forehead. "What Pam is doing is helping us both and I can`t let her do it all by herself."

Tears pressed against my eyelids.

"How long will you be gone?" Now my voice didn`t sound like my voice anymore.

"Maybe a week or a little longer. Two weeks at the most."

I nodded. I could handle two weeks. I crawled into his embrace and kissed his shirt, just the place where his heart was. Or should have been. No, it was there. Eric had a heart. That it wasn`t beating was no proof that he wasn`t using it.

"When are you leaving?"

"I`ll go tomorrow if I can arrange a flight at daytime." He pulled me closer.

"Where to?"

Eric just kissed me and kissed me and then he kissed me a little deeper. It wasn`t that his kiss made me forget my question. I just knew that I wasn`t going to get an answer.

I knew Eric`s hands were cold, but they felt warm against my skin as he undressed me. Maybe it was just the knowledge of what he could do with those hands.

"So what did Micah do to Anita Blake?" Eric whispered in my ear.

I laughed. "Something I don`t want you do be doing with me. I want you to do what Eric does to Sookie Stackhouse."

"That can certainly be arranged."

And suddenly we were both naked and Eric was down between my legs. Because of the stomach, I couldn`t watch his head bob up and down anymore, but he made up for it with appreciative sounds. I suppose I made a few sounds too. It was impossible to have a soundless orgasm by Eric Northman.

The stomach had also forced us to be more inventive in our lovemaking. We had spooned and I had been on all fours, but Eric said he missed my face and my eyes when he was forced to stare at my back so we had found a few positions that didn`t mean a heavy Viking on a tiny Påsan or Vesla.

Eric peaked over my stomach as I lay there, trying to get down from the high he had just given me. He always had the most satisfied grin when he had made me scream in pleasure. I was pretty sure I hadn`t seen the last of that grin for the night.

Eric got up on his knees, between my thighs and pulled me up from the bed. There are things to be said about having a strong lover. He impaled me on himself, just far enough for the stomach to have room and just close enough so I could reach his face, his hair and, after a while, steady myself on his shoulders.

He moved me gently up and down first, but after a while, and with the help from my legs, it got faster and harder. When I was getting close he bent over my stomach and started licking and sucking my breast. A tingling feeling started in the breast he was sucking and I wanted more.

"Bite, Eric," I whispered and he did just that, bringing both me and soon himself over the edge.

We lay there afterwards, me on his shoulder, touching each other lightly with our fingertips. I was panting and Eric was smiling. Then Eric turned his head.

"I want you to take some of my blood before I leave. For both you and the baby."

"And for you?" I lifted my head and looked at him, smiling knowingly. I knew how much he liked it when I took his blood.

"And for me." His voice had become husky.

In the beginning I hadn`t felt all that comfortable about biting him and we had occasionally had a knife ready for when he wanted me to have his blood. But I guess I had found my inner vampire or something because now I just leaned over him and bit his chest until it bled and I could suck his sweet and red essence.

Eric started making grunting noises and my hand trailed down between his legs where I was met by something hard and ready.

I stroked him a few times while sucking and when I figured I had had enough, I licked his wound and looked at him.

"Are you tired?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered truthfully. Having had two orgasms already, I felt like my body had been knocked over by a truck. Just not as painful. Maybe knocked over by a truck and then medicated by something making me very happy. "Yes, I`m tired, but if you are going away tomorrow, I guess I`d better make sure my orgasm jar is full enough to last me those two weeks you are away."

Eric rolled me over and made sure my orgasm jar was more than full. As a matter of fact, I may have needed a larger jar.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter. It was twice as long as usual, but I still didn`t manage to get to the more angsty parts. I guess I got caught up in the domestic life of Eric and Sookie *cough*

I am not entirely sure when I will be able to post the next chapter. If I get well and get my doctor`s approval tomorrow, I`ll be on a flight to Kenya on Wednesday and will be gone for over a week. And after that my lovely beta, **Rascalthemutant**, will be going to Scandinavia (and I get to see her face to face for the first time – yay) and I do not have the confidence to post un-betaed.

**Buy me**

But you will be able to buy me. Yes, you heard me – I put myself up for sale. Not my stupid, sick body, but my crazy head and my fast keyboard fingers. Along with a lot of great SVM-writers I have volunteered my writing skills for the Support Stacie Auctions. Stacie is a fellow fanfic writer with cancer and no health insurance and the money we raise in the auction, will help pay for her treatments. All the SVM-writers have different offers – some even offer banners with their stories.

Since I`m no techie, I can only offer my writing skills, but they will be all yours if you win me. You can decide a one-shot you want me to write or you can ask me for alternative point of views to one of my stories. Or maybe you think there were some missing pages in a story – something you want more of. You can decide. All human or vampires and telepaths, it`s your choice. I only ask to be allowed to write Eric and Sookie as the main couple (if there is to be a couple) and that I don`t have to glorify rape or something like that. The story will be all yours, but I hope you will let me post it here on fanfic and on the Alexander Skarsgård Library as well.

So enough sales pitch. Go buy yourself a writer and support Stacie :-D. The auction is from the 26th to the 29th of March and the address is this: **www . supportstacie . com/phpBB3/viewforum . php?f=24**

**

* * *

**

**Names in Scandinavia**

**Elbly** mentioned Welsh names in her ongoing fic and it made me think of Scandinavian names. Some of you have Scandinavian last names as a part of your national "name-bank", so I thought I would tell you about how we got them.

Before somewhere in the 19th century only Scandinavian nobility had last names inherited from their father. Everyone else was called either Nils Hansen (meaning Nils, son of Hans) or Hans Møller (Hans Miller). Their job or their father was what they were named after. A few had pretty weird names like Maren i kæret (Maren by the pond) or Morten Halt (Morten Limp). If you go back in history, you will find kings with all kinds of nicknames like Harald Blåtand (Harald Bluetooth – and yes, the Bluetooth is named after him), Svend Tveskæg (Svend Twobeards) and Gorm den Gamle (Gorm the Old).

But then at various times in the 19th century, the governments in the Scandinavian countries decided all this naming after limps and professions was a mess, so they declared that everyone should take a family name and that name would go to their children who would bring it on to their children. Inherited family names were born.

In all three countries a lot of people were named after their fathers. In Denmark and Norway the names ended with –sen and in Sweden with –son. So if you meet a Scandinavian descendant named Hanson, his or her forefather was Swedish. If you meet someone called Hansen, they were Norwegian or Danish. Did I mention that the Swedes always want to be special? Nah, just kidding.

I read somewhere that more than 75% of all Danes have a name that ends with –sen. This number is declining because when two people get married in Denmark, and they decide to have the same last name, the husband or wife with the –sen-last name will often trade it away if the spouse has a less common name. We are in a time and age where people want to be special, not just another Hansen or Nielsen.

In Norway and Sweden the –sen and –son names are not as common as in Denmark, but they are common enough.

The fun thing is – on **Iceland** they have kept the tradition of giving the children the first name of the father + -son as the last name. So Guðmund Sigurðarson had a father called Sigurð and if he has a son, he will get Guðmundsson as his last name. If he has a daughter, she will get the last name Guðmundsdottir. Dottir means daughter in Icelandic. The Icelandic artist Björk is actually called Björk Guðmundsdottir. There is no prize for guessing what her father is called.

**First names:**

These are the most common first names for babies being named in 2009:

Norway:

Boys top five: Lucas/Lukas, Emil, Alexander/ Aleksander, Oliver, Mathias/Matias.

Girls top ten: Emma, Linnea/Linea, Nora/Norah, Sofie/Sophie, Sara/Sahra/Sarah.

Sweden:

Boys top five: Lucas, Elias, Oscar, William, Hugo

Girls top five: Alice, Maja, Ella, Emma, Elsa

Denmark:

Boys top five: Lucas, Emil, Mikkel, William, Oliver

Girls top five: Freja, Emma, Ida, Lærke, Caroline

Did you get any ideas for your future kids now? :-D

I think the world will see a lot of Scandinavian Lucas Hansens or Lucas Hansons in the future…


	24. Chapter 24

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 24**

**A/N: **

I suppose you are surprised about getting a chapter now when I was supposed to be under the African sun. Bad news: My doctor put his foot down so I will just have to go at another time. Good news: I can write more. So here is the result.

After having wallowed in self pity for a day or two, I looked up and you know what I found? So many lovely reviews from you guys. You also broke a record for me – this story has more than 500 subscribers and almost 400 have made it their favorite. I`m so amazed. I really hope I can live up to your expectations. Thank you so much for cheering me up like that :-D

I also want to thank **Rascalthemutant** who got this chapter late last night and read it and corrected it so it was ready for me this morning. She is so great!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Eric started making grunting noises and my hand trailed down between his legs where I was met by something hard and ready._

_I stroked him a few times while sucking and when I figured I had had enough, I licked his wound and looked at him. _

"_Are you tired?" he asked._

"_Yes," I answered truthfully. Having had two orgasms already, I felt like my body had been knocked over by a truck. Just not as painful. Maybe knocked over by a truck and then medicated by something making me very happy. "Yes, I`m tired, but if you are going away tomorrow, I guess I`d better make sure my orgasm jar is full enough to last me those two weeks you are away."_

_Eric rolled me over and made sure my orgasm jar was more than full. As a matter of fact, I may have needed a larger jar. _

* * *

**Chapter 24:**

I escorted Eric to the airport. Sjur had offered to do it and to do it alone, but I wanted to be there. Not to have a teary goodbye with handkerchief-waving and cheeks being kissed, because Eric would be tucked safely away in his coffin, but just to do it. To be there. And to see where he was going.

Because even if Eric was taking Steinngrim`s private jet, the check-in counter still knew the destination of the plane. This was how I knew Eric was bound for Florida. Which was in the USA. Close enough to Louisiana, but not that close. And not close to Nevada at all. But he was still going back to my country.

I wanted to know what he was going back for, but I had no one to ask. Instead I went back to my job teaching people old Norse, back to being the expectant mother, back to hoping Eric would be back safe and sound, but not really knowing anything.

The first week went pretty well, but when the second week started, so did my inner fears. And they blossomed in full when the second week ended and Eric was still not there. Eric had said it would not be more than two weeks and yet, the two weeks were gone and no Eric.

When the third week had almost ended, and the rug in the dining room was worn down from me pacing back and forth, the front door finally opened and Eric was there. Just like that.

I ran to Eric, or as much as you can run when you are seven months pregnant, but stopped just before I reached him. I had seen this before. Eric had red marks all over his face.

"What happened," I exclaimed.

He gave me a quick hug and a kiss.

"You have to bind me in silver," he whispered, obviously tormented.

"WHAT?"

"I have felt my Master`s call. I won`t risk going to him. Not now." He looked at my stomach and I did not like the sadness in his eyes.

Eric had explained to me that the call of the Master was both a vampire rule, but also a compulsion. He was fighting the compulsion now and had already broken the rule.

Eric had Steinngrim in tow and they put his coffin in the light proof room in our house. I could hear what I imagined was the silver rattle in the coffin and it made me freeze.

"Thank you, Steinngrim," Eric said.

"I can`t touch the silver, Sookie," Steinngrim said to me. "You have to do it."

"But I can`t…"

"His master is calling him. He will have to go if he is not tied up."

"For how long will he…"

"A week, maybe." Steinngrim looked truly sad. "Look at it this way, Sookie. At least you have him home."

"Will Appius be able to find him?"

"Masters don`t have magic tracking devices or anything like that," Steinngrim tried to smile at me. "Children are supposed to come to their masters. Not the other way around."

"But why is he asking him to come now. Doesn`t he believe Eric is dead?" I turned to Eric. "I thought this whole thing was about making Appius think you were dead."

Eric sighed one of those sighs that were so strange coming from someone who didn`t breath.

"I still believe he thinks I`m dead and that he is just testing to make sure."

"Yeah, Eric was his great warrior. He is probably pissed about losing him," Steinngrim explained.

"Losing me without being the one to torture the last life out of me," Eric said with a grim voice.

Steinngrim looked startled. Then he nodded. "Yes, that too."

"How do you know it`s going to work. Eric can`t…" I turned towards Eric. "You can`t be in silver forever."

"Appius will give up eventually," Eric said loudly, almost as if he was trying to convince himself too.

"But when?"

"Soon." Eric said, but he didn`t sound sure.

"And what if he doesn`t?" I couldn`t stop pressing the issue. This was important.

Eric sighed again. "Then we`ll have to think of something else."

"Like what?"

Eric was quiet and so was Steinngrim.

"Like what, Eric?" My voice was starting to get a little high-pitched for my own taste. It would attract dogs and crack glass soon.

Eric looked at Steinngrim who then looked at me.

"Eric may have to go to his maker if he doesn`t stop calling for him. It`s the way it is for vampires."

I gasped so loudly, it felt as if I had swallowed all the air in the room. Then I walked closer to Eric and stared up in his face.

"No, you fucking don`t. You are staying here. I have waited for you twice now. The first time thinking you were dead. The second, dreading the worst. You are staying here, if I`m going to put you in silver myself."

Eric smiled a sad smile.

"I want you to put me in silver."

I screamed out, realizing what I had said. "I don`t want to do this, but if there is a chance it will refrain you from obeying this order you have beeping in your brain, then I will do it." Tears came down my cheeks.

"It will be fine, Sookie. I can take the silver. I`m not weak, you know. It probably looks worse than it is." Eric`s smile became more genuine as he bent down and kissed my tears away.

"I hope so because it looks awful."

Eric and I kissed for a while, then he suddenly straightened up as if an invisible string had pulled him backwards.

"You have to do it now, Sookie. I`m not sure how long I can resist the call from my Master."

That made the tears flow out of my eyes. How could anyone ask a woman, a pregnant woman, to torture the man she loved like this? I swallowed my pain, sniffled and walked to the coffin. I opened it and saw that I had been correct in my assumption. It was full of silver chains. Thick ones and thin ones.

I pulled out the chains and put them on the floor. When the coffin was empty, I looked at Eric.

"How do you want me to do this?" My voice was thick and it was probably what made Eric come over to me and run his fingers through my hair.

"Oh, Sookie…" He kissed me deeply and made my heart pound a little faster. "I wish I could change this, but I can`t." He kissed me again and looked at all the silver. "Please take the thick ones and wrap them around my body and when I`m in the coffin, you wrap the thinner ones around my arms and legs. Finally, you put the thinnest chains around my head."

I started to cry again, looking at all the red marks he had on his face already.

"Can`t I just put silver on the parts of you that are covered by clothes?" I sobbed.

Steinngrim came over. "We think it`s better his head is burning."

I looked at him. "How do you know? Maybe it would work just as well without his face being ruined like that?" I pleaded.

Eric pulled me into a close embrace. "I do not want to take the chance. Not with you and the baby here. I want to stay here with you and if a week in pain can enhance my chances of staying, why shouldn`t I take as much silver as I can?" He kissed me. "I know it will be hard on you to do it, to see me like this, but the pain means nothing to me. I have been in silver for longer periods than a week and I`m still standing here, strong as ever." He gave me a reassuring smile.

I managed to smile back through the tears. And then I picked up some of the thickest chains and started wrapping them around Eric`s torso. Eric was wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt. I didn`t know if he could feel the silver through his clothes. When I looked at his face, it gave nothing away.

Then he bent down to lie in the coffin and I tied up his legs and arms. I stopped at his cufflinks, but then Eric looked at me and whispered. "The hands too."

I nodded and quickly wrapped his hands. The reaction on his skin was immediate. It was as if I was burning him with acid. The silver glued itself to the skin and sunk into it.

"Oh Eric," I said, tears trailing down my cheeks again.

Eric looked at me. "I will pay you back for each and every one of those tears, Sookie."

I bent down and kissed his forehead. "You already have, Eric. You already have."

And then I closed my eyes and placed the silver around his head. I did not want to see the pain in his eyes. The pain I was inflicting.

"I will see you soon," Eric whispered and then I lowered the lid on the coffin. There was not a sound coming from it. Not even a sigh.

I kneeled next to the coffin and started to cry again. I tried not to make too much sound since Eric had enough pain inside the coffin without having to deal with mine too. But I was heartbroken.

After a while the tears seemed to go slower and finally they stopped. I had forgotten all about Steinngrim until he sat next to me and held me in his arms.

"This is nothing for Eric, Sookie. He has been through much worse. This is nothing."

I turned my head slightly. "You have seen him in silver before?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

Steinngrim nodded. "Many times, Sookie. Many times. And if Appius had been my maker, I would gladly have taken silver to avoid going back to him too."

I tried to get up, but it was heavy with the baby. Steinngrim quickly helped me to my feet.

"Why doesn`t he kill Appius, then?" I asked while going slowly to the couch. I needed to get my feet up.

"No vampire can kill its master. It`s impossible. Do you think any masters would survive the first years when the child is still in sorrow over the life they have lost, if the child could stake their master in revenge?"

I shook my head. "But isn`t it illegal, or whatever you call it if you break one of your rules, for Eric not no go to his master? He explained once that it was both a compulsion and a rule."

"Indeed it is." Steinngrim nodded.

"But you are a king and you have witnessed this?"

"I have broken many rules, helping Eric these past months. Eric had given his word to another king and he refuses going to his master. I should have sent him to either one of them. Probably to both."

"You are not going to," I stated the obvious.

Steinngrim shook his head.

"Could you be punished for this?" I asked.

"Felipe de Castro could probably have demanded a handsome amount of money off me, had he known Eric was here."

"And Appius?"

Steinngrim stood in the middle of the room and looked at me. I knew this was a question I wouldn`t get an answer to.

Steinngrim came over to me and sat in the chair next to the couch. We sat in silence for a while. Then I looked at him. I had a question that I really wanted to ask Eric, but couldn`t, under the circumstances.

"What was Eric doing in Florida?" I asked.

Steinngrim was quiet for a while, then he looked me in the eyes.

"That is for Eric to tell, Sookie. I can only say that he was trying to secure your future."

"By doing something to stop Appius?"

Steinngrim`s head went slowly back and forth. "No, Eric can`t do anything to stop his master, I`m afraid."

"Can Pam?"

"A vampire`s child cannot kill his master. Or else vampires would have made children with the sole purpose of getting rid of their cruel masters." Steinngrim took my hand. "A vampire`s master is his fate. Pam was lucky to have a fair and just master. Eric did not have the same kind of luck. But he has spent a millennium accepting it and he did, up until…"

"Up until I got pregnant?" I asked.

"No, up until he fell in love with you, I suspect. By owning both you and Eric, Appius will have both his warrior and the telepath his sister wished for."

"Appius doesn`t own me."

"But he does, Sookie. If he finds you, he owns you."

Steinngrim got up from his chair and kissed my cheeks.

"I must leave you now, Sookie. I shall tell Sjur to call on you tomorrow. We will look after you, Sookie. You are amongst friends."

And with those words, Steinngrim was out the door.

I sat on the couch for a while, not really understanding what had happened. One minute I had been home alone wondering where Eric was, the next I was torturing him with silver and putting him in his coffin.

Then I went to the coffin. I wanted to open it and kiss Eric, but how could I look at him with all the silver burning into his skin? And was he even awake? Maybe he went into some trance to live through the pain?

Instead I walked to the bathroom and started to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I washed my face and combed my hair. I just stood there for a minute, thinking things over. I looked in the mirror and a sad and frightened woman looked back at me. Then I took a deep breath. I was married to a vampire. A vampire I loved very much. That love came with a price.

I walked out into the bedroom again and over to the coffin. I loved Eric and he was in my house. I would kiss him goodnight and that was the end of that.

I held my breath when I opened the lid, not really knowing what to expect. When I saw Eric there, lying so peacefully, looking at me with his loving blue eyes, I almost didn`t see the silver burning his face and hands. I bent down and kissed his lips very carefully.

"Oh, Sookie," he whispered and a faint smile moved his lips.

I closed the lid again, telling myself that if he could endure, then I could too.

Xxxx

It turned out he didn`t need a full week in the coffin. After a couple of days, he asked me to remove the silver. He walked around in the house looking as if he was listening for something. As if he had an old radio in his head and was trying to catch a distant radio station.

After half an hour of testing and listening, he came back to me and gave me a big embrace.

"Appius has given up. He does not call me anymore."

I jumped up and seven months ago I would probably have managed to get my legs swung around his hips, but now I just looked like a clumsy puppy jumping up and down.

Eric smiled and pulled me up in a full `Gone with the Wind` - movement and carried me to the bedroom. I pushed the hair away from his head and looked at him.

"You look awful, Eric," I sighed.

"We will just have to hope the kid gets his looks from you then," he grinned.

"No, I mean the silver. You look…"

Eric kissed me. "I know what you meant." And then he laughed. "I look like shit, but you love me anyway."

And I did.

Xxxxx

Eric never would tell me what he was doing when he was away. The only thing I got out of him was that they did `something that would secure Pam in her quest for power and thus secure us as well`. I never knew Pam was looking for power, but the more I thought about it, the more I imagined how great she would fit as a sheriff. Or whatever position she was going for.

I knew way too little about the whole hierarchy of vampires to know what kind of job openings there were for someone like Pam. And when I asked Eric if it wasn`t a problem for her to become anything when the whole world was supposed to believe she was finally dead, he just smiled, but never answered.

I had always accepted what I was told and rarely asked for more information whenever Eric, or Bill for that matter, had given me rare insights to the world they lived in. But I found it harder to live with just little pieces of information now. I wasn`t sure why, but I craved more knowledge. I just wasn`t getting it.

What I did get was a lot of love and affection. I got attention and sweet kisses. I got unconditional love, and apart from Gran, this was the first time in my life anyone had ever given me that.

When someone loves you for who you are and doesn`t try to change you, it`s so much easier to accept him for who he is. So I ended up accepting that there was a part of his world that didn`t belong to me. That he had business that was none of my … well, business.

Xxxx

It was October when the days had become short enough for Eric to join me for my pregnancy check-up. I was eight months pregnant and looked like a bubble that could burst any minute. And Eric looked like a proud father who just wanted to carry me and the baby everywhere. Not that I allowed him, of course. I did have a strong sense of dignity and in spite of my legs looking as if they were thighs all the way down to my shoes, I wanted to walk on my own two feet.

I held Eric`s hand, though. I held his hand as much as I could. Tons of love and physical support came to me through there.

"So this is the proud father," the smiling doctor said, looking at Eric. I had explained to him that Eric was indeed the biological father, but he never seemed to believe me. I could understand why since I never gave him any details about time travels and Eric as a human. Sometimes you want to avoid seeming too crazy to doctors and other figures with authority.

"Indeed it is," Eric smiled back and actually offered his hand to the doctor. Like most vampires, Eric never shook hands with anybody.

The doctor had apparently been close to vampires before because he seemed as surprised as I was, but he took Eric`s hand and shook it carefully, as if it was made of china.

I managed to get up on his examination bench and the doctor took out a sort of a microphone. He had told me that it was too late to have any good ultrasounds of the baby, but we had a perfect picture hanging on the wall back home from when the baby was smaller. I had caught Eric staring at it several times and it always made me smile, just thinking about it.

My doctor listened to the baby`s heartbeat every time I visited him, but this was the first time Eric was there to listen to it too. Though, for all I knew, Eric had listened to the heartbeat every time he had his ear to my stomach. Which was a lot.

I always got teary when I heard the baby`s heartbeat, and today was no exception. Actually I was even more sentimental now that I had Eric`s hand in mine. I looked at him and his smile was loving, determined and also a bit worried. Or maybe those were just my feelings I projected into it?

Xxxx

We didn`t say much on our way home. Eric had his usual hand on my thigh and I leaned back and enjoyed the situation. I caught a glimpse of Eric`s profile in the street lights and he looked pleased too.

"I`m glad you are in the care of a modern hospital, Sookie. I checked, almost no one dies in child-birth now."

I smiled, but was a little sad too. Eric had lost a wife before.

"I will be around to see our grandchildren, Eric."

Eric nodded. "And I will see our greatgreatgreatgrandchildren."

I looked at him closer to see if there was some kind of sorrow behind his words, but he looked happy.

"Yes, you probably will," I answered.

We parked outside our house and were on our way out of the car, when Eric stopped abruptly. He turned to me and threw me the car keys.

"Drive, Sookie! Now!" he whispered loudly.

"What? Why? What is…" I started.

"Not now! Just go!

The intensity of his voice made me jump into the driver`s seat of the car. I had to adjust the seat since Eric`s legs were so much longer than mine, but looking at Eric, I knew I would have to wait with the mirrors.

I started the car and drove out, my heart thumping in my chest. What had happened? Why was I going? And where?

The only people I really trusted were Sjur and Steinngrim so I drove in their direction. I was almost there when I suddenly felt a deep pull in me. Something telling me I had to go back.

I had had that feeling before. Not exactly the same feeling, because when I had left Eric and Felipe de Castro at the parking lot outside of Merlotte`s, I felt Eric`s desperation. Now I just felt a pull. But it was definitely from Eric. And it was reluctant.

I stopped the car, not really sure what I was supposed to do. Then I felt it again and this time there was no question. I had to turn the car around and go to Eric. Just like that time back in Bon Temps, I wasn`t really sure why, except I knew Eric was in trouble. And I probably was too.

I parked the car a few houses away. I knew Eric was inside the house, which made it impossible to copy my last rescue mission. There was no way I could kill whatever was threatening Eric, by plowing the car through the front door. Sigebert would have to be my only attempt of killing anyone with my car. At least for now.

Two houses down, I walked past the house to the backyard. I tried to duck and sneak my way through, but that was really not possible with the size of my stomach, so I walked casually instead.

I crossed the backyard and did the same with our neighbor`s. When I opened the gate to Eric`s and my little garden, I stopped and listened for sounds. I walked quietly to our wooden patio and stopped again. Then I tip-toed back to the garden and broke off a branch on one of the trees. I wasn`t really sure what I would use it for, but I suspected a wooden stake could be handy inside the house.

Looking down at the branch, I figured it wasn`t really much of a stake, but if a wooden arrow could kill a vampire in Rhodes, then this branch could come to use too.

I tiptoed back to the patio and to our back door. It was locked, but I had the key ready. The key slid into the keyhole and after having turned it around, I pressed the door handle down and opened the door slowly.

I could hear faint voices and walked towards them. Then I stopped in my tracks.

"Yes, Master." It was Eric`s voice and it was so full of grief, I just wanted to run into the room and give him a hug. It would have been counterproductive, though, since the other person in the room would be the one vampire I had come to hate more than any other vampire I had met. The vampire who had killed Eric and who had tormented him throughout so many centuries of his undead life.

Appius.

My heart fell down in my stomach and I looked at the branch I was holding on to. What had I been thinking? There was no chance I would be able to kill a 2000-year-old vampire with a tiny branch from my garden.

Then I looked at my stomach and listened to Eric`s voice, answering Appius in some language I didn`t know. Latin, maybe? He sounded so strained and sad; I knew I had to try. For the baby`s sake, for Eric`s sake and for myself.

I tiptoed closer to the living room where they were. Judging from his voice, Appius was sitting with his back towards me, in the easy chair. Or Stressless as the Norwegians called the chairs. I had to shake my head at that name because this was probably the most stressful situation I had ever been in. And I had been in quite a few.

Eric had his face turned in my direction and had definitely seen me coming, but nothing in his face gave me away. I snuck closer and just when I was about to lift the branch to run the last feet to stab Appius, he raised his voice to Eric.

"Would you please tell your bonded not to kill me."

He said it as if he were asking Eric for milk for his coffee, but the result was instant. Eric said nothing, but something inside me told me to stop. I looked at Eric who kept a totally neutral face.

"And please tell her to never kill me," Appius continued.

Suddenly I got a strong urge never to stake Appius. I let go of the branch as if it had burned my hand. What had happened?

Appius got up from the chair.

"I`m so glad to see she is heeling so nicely," he said to Eric. Then he turned around to me. "And if it isn`t my lovely telepath." His smile never reached his eyes.

He looked at my stomach. "And bursting with a little baby-telepath for me too." He sent Eric an evil grin. "Are the rumors true that you actually impregnated this one yourself?"

Eric nodded slightly and Appius looked back at me. "Well, then you are carrying what might be a fantastic specimen." He lifted his hand to touch my stomach, but I stepped one step backwards. "A child with the combined skills of a telepath and a great warrior. Oh, I wish my sister had been here to see it."

He walked around me like a cat walks around a mouse before it kills it. Then bent down and sniffed my hair. My heart stopped for a few seconds and it restarted only when he withdrew.

"If your child lives up to my expectations, I will look forward to making it my child too."

* * *

**A/N:**

How much do you hate me right now? *bites nails*

I hope to have a new chapter for you soon and hope you will forgive me this painful cliffhanger.

**Buy me**

The Support Stacie Auction begins tonight and this will be your chance to buy a story. A lot of SVM-writersm (and other fanfic writers) have volunteered their writing skills to support Stacie Holeman who suffers from cancer and has no health insurance.

I am one of the writers you can buy and if you win me in the auction, you can tell me to write just the one-shot you have always wanted to read. Read more about this great SVM-auction here: www . supportstacie . com/phpBB3/viewforum . php?f=24

* * *

**Scandinavian celebrations**

It`s Easter now and **SVMaddict** made me remember the great Easter I once celebrated in Greece. And then I figured – maybe you would like to hear about our yearly celebrations in this cold part of the world? I will go through them chronologically.

NB: Not everyone in Scandinavia will celebrate everything exactly like this.

**January 1****st**

Everything is closed because we are all hung over from New Year`s celebrations (see December 31st).

**January 6****th**** - Thirteenth day of Christmas**

This is when we officially throw our Christmas trees out, take down the ornaments from the windows and smash our peppercake-houses and eat them.

**Fastelavn in February**

In Denmark and some places in Sweden and Norway, fastelavn is celebrated. My little one-shot **Carnival is for Scars, Valentine`s for Mending**, was about the celebration of fastelavn.

We dress up as princesses and robots (or whatever else we feel like dressing up as), eat a lot of fastelavns-buns (buns filled with whipped cream or sweet cream) and hit the cat out of the sack (Norway) or the cat out of the barrel (Denmark). The cat out of the sack is like a piñata filled with candy. The barrel is also filled with candy, but a bit harder to knock a hole in to get the candy out. We use baseball bats for this.

Why the cat, you ask? Oh, in the olden days there was a black cat and not candy in the sack/barrel. The black cat represented witches and knocking the cat to its early death was a way of ridding the village of black magic. There definitely weren`t any animal`s rights organizations back then.

**Easter**

Easter is the worst time of the year for a tourist to come to Scandinavia. We are not there. We all go to our cabins in the mountains or by the sea - or travel to the South of Europe to catch some sunrays. Most of Scandinavia is closed for 10 days. Sweden is a bit more open than Denmark and especially Norway, but the cities are pretty much dead. You can buy t-shits in Oslo saying "I visited Oslo when it was closed", which was said by an American tourist trying to find an open shop during Easter.

**April 31****st**** Valborgsafton**

Valborg is only celebrated in Sweden (and Finland, the Baltics and other places, but not in Denmark or Norway). Students in Sweden put on their Student hats and bonfires are lit and there is a general celebration.

Before Christianity this night was celebrated as a night where the living and the dead were the closest they could get during the year. On a personal note – celebrating Valborg is the closest I have been to dead(drunk) in my life. Damned, those Swedes can drink Punsj like nobody`s business.

**4****th**** Friday after Easter – Store bededag (Great prayer day)**

This is only celebrated in Denmark. There were a lot of minor prayer days throughout the year and in 1686 they were all combined into one large day. This is still an official day where all the shops and offices are closed in Denmark. Everyone eats a kind of buns called "hveder" which are supposed to be eaten hot. It is also a tradition to go for a walk in the city on that day. Apart from that it`s just another day off from work.

**17****th**** of May – Norway`s national day**

This day is HUGE in Norway. Only Christmas Eve rivals it in celebration. Everyone dresses up in national costumes or black suits and nice dresses (you can always spot the tourists because they will be the only ones wearing jeans on this great day – and yes, that is very much frowned upon so please never wear jeans on the 17th of May in Norway), the children go through the city with the school`s marching bands (most schools have a marching band – mainly for the celebration of the 17th of May) and shout "Hurra!" until they lose their voices. In Oslo the children walk up to the castle and greet the King. Poor man – he has to lift his top hat for 4 hours or so.

The Norwegians celebrate their constitution which is from 1814.

On a fun note – Norwegians don`t celebrate Mother`s Day the second Sunday in May because it would often collide with 17th of May. Norwegians celebrate it on the second Sunday of February – which collides with Valentine`s from time to time.

**Five weeks and four days after Easter - Ascension of Jesus**

This is mainly another day off from work. It`s always on a Thursday so most people take Friday off as well.

**50 days after Easter – Pentecost**

In Denmark and Norway the Monday in Pentecost is another day off from work. In Sweden I do believe they work on that day.

**5****th**** of June – Grundlovsdag (Day of Constitution) - Denmark`s national day**

Most Danes forget their national day. I know I do. But it is a national flag day and the constitution from 1849 is supposed to be celebrated.

**6****th**** of June – Svenska flaggans dag (Swedish Flag Day) - Sweden`s national** day

This is a rather new celebration. It was started in 1916, but it wasn`t until 1983 it was officially named the national day and it wasn`t a day off from work until 2005. In Norway they smile at the celebration because they feel the Swedes are trying to copy the Norwegian 17th of May (I told you about the low Norwegian self esteem towards Swedes, right?). But the Swedish Flag Day has actually become quite a celebration over the last couple of years.

**Midsummer**

Midsummer is celebrated all with high intensity all over Scandinavia.

In Denmark they make a witch-doll (what is it with Danes and witches?), put her on a huge bonfire and "send her to Bloksberg" – which is somewhere in Germany where the witches gather with the devil.

In Norway they just make a huge witch-less bonfire, dance and enjoy the long, sunny evening.

In Sweden the Midsummer is huge. They make Midsummer poles and dance around them. People dress in white and put flowers in their hair. All the dansbands are out playing and people dance and drink and have a lot of fun. I think you will find a lot of Swedish babies being born nine months after Midsummer.

**Allerhelgensaften/-afton – Halloween**

Allerhelgensaften is not a day off in Scandinavia. Actually, except for Christmas and New Year`s, all the days off are in the first half of the year.

Some kids have started celebrating Halloween like in USA, but it is generally considered a commercial thing that most adults don`t really like. The old tradition is to go to the graves of our loved ones and light a candle and mourn them that evening. I actually wrote a one-shot about that tradition too – called **Winter Vampire**.

**First day of advent/ December 1****st**

Christmas is officially kickstarted on the first day of advent, which is four Sundays before Christmas, when we light the first of four candles in our advent decoration.

For the kids, Christmas begins on December 1st when they get to open the first door in their Christmas calendar, which is a calendar with 24 doors. Behind the door there is a picture or a piece of chocolate. Most kids also get a present-calendar where they can open one small present each of the 24 days to Christmas.

**Christmas**

Describing Christmas in Scandinavia is a whole A/N in itself, I think. But I have written a one-shot (what is it with me and one-shots about Scandinavian celebrations?) about a Norwegian Christmas in **Dust Bunnies and Christmas Presents. **

**New Year`s Eve**

This is probably celebrated here like most of you celebrate it: Dress up in your finest, drink a lot of champagne, eat a lot of good food, throw up all the good food over your finest and go home to your own or someone else`s bed and sleep all of January 1st, making a New Year`s resolutions about never drinking that much again.

Oh, and we try and listen to the speech our King or Queen gives that evening and nod and are teary because we have such a great King or Queen – though we really don`t care about them the rest of the year.

We also risk our own and everyone else`s life by holding fireworks in our hands and by insisting on everyone coming outside in the freezing cold in skimpy dresses to see that firework.

Afterwards we all agree on the fact that people spend way too much money on fireworks and that we really should use that money for the hungry children in other countries.

And then we throw up.

**Happy Easter!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 25**

**A/N:**

I had a tsunami of reviews after the last chapter. Thank you so much for all of them. I hope I didn`t scare you too much!

I also want to thank all the generous people who supported Stacie Holeman in the Support Stacie Auction. She got almost $11,000 for her cancer treatments - $3,400 of them came from the tiny SVM-part of the auction. That is amazing and I`m so touched that so many people opened their wallets for a stranger in trouble.

As a result of the auction I am writing two one-shots. One is an outtake of my story **Dead on the Football Field**. **E-F-M** had a great idea about telling Eric`s story in Birmingham before Sookie got there. WAGs will be an important part of the story. The other story will be about a Swedish Eric living in Stockholm and running a club on the club-area Stureplan – where all the girls have blond hair, huge breasts and orange skin. **Miss Construed** had this wonderful idea and especially asked for an orange-skinned Eric. I`m looking forward to writing both of those stories.

I want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for reading and correcting all the 30 pages that are left of this story before she goes on vacation to Scandinavia this week. You have been such a great beta on this story – and on everything else I`ve written, **Rascal**!

I also want to thank **Peppermintyrose** for all our great discussions about Eric and Sookie. If you want to know more about our two favorite characters, you should go read her stories.

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**From the previous chapter:**

_He looked at my stomach. "And bursting with a little baby-telepath for me too." He sent Eric an evil grin. "Are the rumors true that you actually impregnated this one yourself?" Eric nodded slightly. "Well, then you are carrying what might be a fantastic specimen." He lifted his hand to touch my stomach, but I stepped one step backwards. "A child with the combined skills of a telepath and a great warrior. Oh, I wish my sister had been here to see it." _

_He walked around me like a cat walks around a mouse before it kills it. Then bent down and sniffed my hair. My heart stopped for a few seconds and it restarted only when he withdrew._

"_If your child lives up to my expectations, I will look forward to making it my child too."_

**Chapter 25**

I stiffened.

I wanted to shout `over my dead body`, but that would sound like an invitation I wasn`t planning on giving Appius. I wanted to kick him, but knew I couldn`t. I wanted to run, but even without Appius after me, that would be impossible. I was too large. Too pregnant.

So I stiffened.

I looked at Eric and saw him shake his head slightly while I had Appius` attention. Unfortunately, Appius noticed where I was looking, or maybe he just saw my pleading eyes. He smiled and it was not a nice smile.

"Eric will not be able to help you, my girl," he whispered in my ear. "Look at him. He is _my_ child first. My child before he is _your_ bonded or pledged or whatever you two are to each other."

Appius straightened up and walked towards Eric.

"You are being a poor host, Eric. I have yet to hear you offer me blood from that delicious smelling creature." Appius pointed at me.

Eric shook his head. "Don`t," he whispered.

Appius was next to Eric in two fast leaps.

"You are denying your master blood from your bonded?" he asked as if it was the most ludicrous thing he had heard in ages. And maybe it was.

"She needs the blood for the baby," Eric said in a neutral voice, but I could hear the emotions behind it. Appius probably could too.

"Are you telling me that you have such a sweet-smelling bag of blood walking around in your home without having the occasional sip? You do know that humans reproduce the blood you take?"

"Yes, Master. But her doctor told her she had a low blood count so I have refrained from taking any."

Appius laughed.

"That is probably the funniest thing I`ve heard since…" he stopped laughing and looked at me. "I can`t even remember having heard anything so funny." He paused. "Are you denying me blood, human?" he asked me.

I never got to answer.

"Please don`t, Master." Eric`s face was still neutral, but his voice was more strained now.

Appius turned around again. He was shorter than Eric and had black hair to Eric`s blond. His skin was slightly darker too, though being a vampire had probably paled it from what it had been when he was alive. His eyes were brown, but now they looked almost black. He had probably been handsome when he was human, but now he looked so evil, his straight nose, high eyebrows and white teeth didn`t do him much good. His beautiful features only enhanced the cruelty he radiated.

"Oh Eric, oh Eric. Do you know how long I have waited to hear you plead with me again? You were so much more fun when I could torture you by doing things you hated to you. It only lasted a hundred years or so before you learned how to act as if you liked my ways. Those were a hundred lovely years, but afterwards…" He shrugged. "You got boring. I mean, who wants to fuck someone who is willing?"

My hair stood up on my neck and arms. I wished I could put my index fingers in my ears and not listen to what Appius had to say. I wished I could grab Eric`s arms and let him fly us out of here.

No, what I really wished was to put a stake into that cold heart Appius had in his chest.

"And now you provide me with a whole new bag of fun, Eric," Appius continued. "You won`t even let me drink from your human. Now, what would you say if I threatened to fuck her or to torture her?"

"She is mine to protect, Master," Eric said in that neutral voice of his, but now the despair was gone. It was replaced with determination.

"Indeed she is, Eric. But you are my child and I can do with you as I please. You lost your fear for me centuries ago. She…" he pointed at me "is bringing it all back. And you know how fear is my greatest aphrodisiac. You might just be fun to play with again, Eric."

In vampire speed he was next to me and had my arm in his hand and his mouth at my wrist.

"NO!!" Eric yelled and then he fell down on his knees. "Please, Master."

Appius` laughter was loud and raw as he looked back at Eric. He let go of my arm and without me noticing him actually walking over to Eric, Appius had Eric`s hair in his hand and pulled his head backwards.

"Your pleading is music to my ears. I am not an unreasonable master so I will take your blood instead. At least for now." And then Appius bit into Eric`s neck and the sounds he made drinking Eric`s lovely blood made my stomach turn.

I swallowed heavily and tried not to watch Appius on Eric`s throat, but I couldn`t look away. The image was forever in my brain and I felt so miserable and helpless like I`d never felt before.

Then I caught Eric`s eyes and they were very calm as if he wanted to tell me it was all right. That I shouldn`t feel bad for him. That he would take care of me. Of us. I knew he couldn`t, not with the power Appius had over him, but it felt very good to see that look in Eric`s eyes.

I smiled slightly at him and he winked back. I had to smile a little more. Eric and his winks.

Appius has stopped drinking and stood up and drew the back of his hand over his mouth as if he had just had a sip of beer. His mouth was red from Eric`s blood, but I wasn`t as afraid of him as I had been five minutes earlier. I knew Eric and I would be fine. Or rather, I didn`t _know_ we would be fine, but I felt confident. For no reason at all, I felt sure Eric and I would get through this.

It was as if Appius could sense the calm in me. And in Eric.

And he hated it.

Xxxx

It was a long night. Appius strived to keep Eric begging, but every time he tried something, Eric just nodded and said "yes, Master." I also kept my calm and as it turned out, Appius didn`t hurt me. Maybe he was afraid of hurting his future child or maybe he just didn`t have it in him to torture a pregnant woman.

Somehow I doubted Appius had any problems torturing anyone. It may just have been Eric`s new unconditional submissiveness that turned Appius … the best word would be impotent. Not sexually impotent, but it was as if he was a balloon that had deflated.

Eric was by no means treated with silk gloves. He was beaten and spat on and kicked. His nose was broken pretty early in the evening. But I was allowed to go to bed when I got tired of standing. And with Eric`s wink in fresh memory, I actually managed to brush my teeth and crawl under the covers.

I didn`t change into my pajamas and didn`t fall asleep. But I was not used as a pawn against Eric and that was a consolation. You know you are in trouble when you are happy you are not tortured to make your husband suffer.

Xxxx

I must have dozed off, though, because I woke up with a gasp when the mattress moved from someone getting into the bed.

"Don`t worry, Sookie. It`s just me." It was Eric`s deep voice.

I looked at Eric in the light from the nightstand.

"Oh, Eric." He looked awful and my finger followed the traces of wounds and cuts on his face.

He bent over and kissed me.

"I`ll heal."

"Yes, but you will get new cuts and bruises again." I pulled Eric down to me. "Oh, Eric. What are we going to do?"

Eric held me close and made comforting `ssshhh`-sounds into my hair.

"You will stay here and have our baby. I will go with Appius. That way he cannot hurt you. And with any luck, he will get tired of me again and I will be released."

I pulled away abruptly. "NO, Eric." Then I looked at him. "Where is he now?"

"He is in the spare-room."

Eric and I had an extra light-proof room for Pam and other vampire guests.

"Why did he let you go to me?"

"To say goodbye, I presume. Or maybe just to mess with my head. With Appius, you never know."

"Eric, you can`t leave me. Not now." I did my best to keep my tears from flowing, but it was hard.

"I know. I can`t leave you, but I have to. I just wish…" and then Eric`s voice broke and that brought all the tears I had been holding back, out. When I looked at Eric, I saw blood-red tears flowing down his face too.

"We will find a way, Eric." I said and kissed his cheeks. "We will. We have been through so much. We can`t be parted now. It`s just not… it`s just not fair."

And then I cried into his neck and Eric cried into mine.

Xxxx

We didn`t make love that night. We just held each other close. When dawn was approaching, and Eric knew he was about to die for the day, he kissed my cheek.

"I`m sorry I made you heel, Sookie. I was forced to."

"I know, Eric." I kissed him to make him understand I wasn`t holding it against him.

"But I never made you do exactly what Appius ordered me to. Just know that, Sookie."

"What do you mean?"

"I can`t say because… well, it`s physically impossible for me to do so. I just wanted you to know."

And then he kissed me deeply and lay back on his pillow – and he was gone for the day.

I looked at my beautiful Eric. My Eric with all the wounds on his face and probably even more inside. I loved him so much, but our love definitely came with a price.

I kissed his lips and decided that Appius was a dead vampire. He was in our guest room dead for the day, but he would soon be dead forever.

Eric had said he hadn`t given me the orders Appius had told him to give me. How could that be? Eric had told me not to stake Appius and not just tonight, but ever. Did what Eric said now mean that I could stake him anyway?

I swung my legs out of the bed and walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. I looked around for a stake. I knew I could also cut Appius`s head off, but unfortunately all of Eric`s swords were at the Swordfighting Academy. And I couldn`t really see myself cutting Appius`s neck with a bread knife.

So stake it was. After having looked everywhere, the only thing I could see would fit as a stake, apart from that ridiculous branch I had brought in the day before, was one of the legs off our dining room chairs.

I laid the chair down and kicked it and jumped on it. I was glad I had several additional pounds, thanks to the baby, because it only took be around 15 minutes to destroy the chair completely.

I picked the table-leg up and went to the kitchen to find a butcher knife to carve the stake a little pointier. I worked with an intensity I`d rarely used before. Soon I was holding a nice and pointy stake – very well fit to go into Appius` chest.

I almost felt like screaming ` _Yippie_**-**_Kai_**-**_Yay_**,** Motherfucker`, when I looked at the stake but felt that **one**, I probably should stake Appius before I made any victory dances and **two**, I was not going to use anything out of a movie Jason had forced me to watch when and if I managed to slay Appius.

Full of hope and determination, I walked towards our guest room. I knew Appius was even older than Eric and thus would wake up easier and that made me tip-toe. I pressed the door handle slowly down and entered the room. It was dark and only the light from the hallway made it possible for me to see anything.

I walked very carefully to the coffin in the middle of the room and panted for a while because I had forgotten to breathe. Then I took a deep breath and tried to steady my heart before I put my hand on the coffin-lid. I smiled. I was about to change everything. To save us.

But just as I was about to lift the lid - with my other hand ready with the stake - I felt a heavy pull. Something denied me access to Appius`s coffin.

And then I knew it. I could never stake Appius.

If Amelia or Tara or someone else had asked me how I knew that I could not stake Appius, I would never have been able to explain it to them, but that was how it felt. It was impossible. Out of the question. Couldn`t be done.

I tip-toed out of the room again and when I had closed the door, I fell down on my knees. It was as if someone had pulled out the batteries from my body and it just wouldn`t function anymore. I couldn`t even cry. I just sat there on my knees, without any energy. If someone had come with an axe, I would have just shrugged and let myself be killed.

I had thought I could stake Appius. I had thought I could rid us of the problem that had been such a threat to us for so long. And then I couldn`t. I had a stake and I had a vampire in need of a stake, but I couldn`t connect the two.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. It was as if it woke me from a deep dream. The door bell rang and maybe the person behind the door would have a solution. Maybe it would be Sjur and he could….

I got up and ran towards the door and opened it without even checking first who it was first. I was so sure it would be Sjur.

Instead it was a stranger. A stranger with a huge smile.

"Yes?" I asked while I tried to read the thoughts of the person outside. I barely managed to keep my smile plastered on my face when I realized what kind of creature had rung my doorbell.

A fairie.

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**A/N:**

Oh, no. Am I leaving you with yet another cliffie? And I didn`t even say if it was a nice fairie or a mean one. How could I?

I hope you liked this chapter. The next won`t be too far away, I hope.

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**Scandinavians and organizations**

In the last chapter I went through the important days in Scandinavia. **Peppermintyrose** noted that there were a lot of religious holidays and very few labor days etc. That made me face my palm in a serious way because I had completely left out our **Labor Day, May 1st**. I`m sure my neighborhood would have be thrown out of my house if they had known. There are almost as many flags up in my neighborhood on Labor Day as on the Norwegian National Day and most of my neighbors go downtown and join the demonstration for workers all over the world. The people in the more posh parts of town (and yes, that`s NOT where I live) will work their gardens even if it rains (and even if they usually have gardeners doing that job) just to tell everyone, and their neighbors especially, how much they dislike Labor Day.

Some of us, and that would be the female part, also go on demonstrations on **March 8****th**, which is **Women`s day** here. Every year I end up discussing if men can participate on that day or if they should just stay home and shut up. I say they should stay at home because most of the men in those demonstrations are only there to score anyway (though one can really wonder about men who try and score in demonstrations where women scream and shout about how unfair men are – but believe me, they are there).

In Oslo we also march for peace in December when the **Nobel Peace Prize** is handed out. We walk by the hotel where the winner is staying and he or she comes out on the balcony and greets the crowd.

Scandinavians do have a lot of opinions on the world and how we should treat it. We usually know exactly how every world problem should be solved and most of us would have been great presidents or prime ministers of any country. At least in our own opinions.

This is why we join so many organizations. I read somewhere that Scandinavians have a world record in memberships. If we disagree on something – we form an organization and try and change things. We are silly that way.

I just had a quick count of the number of organizations I belong to, but stopped when I came to 25. I often feel sorry for our politicians because they can`t burp before some anti-burp organization pays them a visit to tells them how wrong and offensive burping is (and no, I don`t belong to that particular organization. I enjoy my burps very much, thank you :-D).

We are so few in our countries, we honestly believe it matters to complain to our politicians. We often meet them in the streets and can chat with them if we want to (I told you I feel sorry for our politicians).

When we are visited by presidents or prime ministers from other countries, we are surprised when they expect security. We are not used to it.

The Norwegian prime minister was appalled because he was gently asked not to ride his bicycle to work every morning. His security people weren`t nervous about him being shot or stabbed, but because the traffic can be dangerous.

You might say that `they can do that in those tiny countries where no one will kill politicians`. Well, I`m sorry if I`m bursting any bubbles about the peace-loving Scandinavians, but we don`t have to go further back than to 1986 to find a Swedish prime minister, Oluf Palme, who got shot in the middle of the street one night he was going to the movies with his wife. And again in 2003 the Swedish minister of foreign affairs, Anna Lindh, was stabbed and killed when she was at a mall shopping with a friend.

So our politicians are killed just like politicians in any other country. It`s just that our politicians feel that hiding behind security is robbing people of an important part of our democracy and crazy people threatening them is a part of their job descriptions.

Sometimes I`m so impressed with our politicians. They aren`t even paid very well for the job they are doing. But really, our politicians (well, some of them at least) make me proud of these three tiny countries.

OK, I`m clearly running out of topics here when I start praising politicians. Just send me a review or a PM if you have questions or topics you want me to write about.

Have a lovely Easter!


	26. Chapter 26

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 26**

**A/N:**

I just loved your reviews after the last chapter. Appius would definitely meet his final death if he met any of you :-D Thank you so much for taking the time to sending me all those beautiful reviews. This story now has more than 2000. It`s amazing and I`m very grateful!

I also want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for reading and correcting all my silly mistakes. And the day after tomorrow I will finally get to see her face to face when she is coming to Oslo. YAY!

And look at the pretty banner Alby90 made for this story. I love the banner so much - and hug Alby for making it! http : // img186 . imageshack . us/img186/1264/dead4 . jpg

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**From the previous chapter**:

_I had thought I could stake Appius. I had thought I could rid us of the problem that had been such a threat to us for so long. And then I couldn`t. I had a stake and I had a vampire in need of a stake, but I couldn`t connect the two. _

_Suddenly the doorbell rang. It was as if it woke me from a deep dream. The door bell rang and maybe the person behind the door would have a solution. Maybe it would be Sjur and he could…._

_I got up and ran towards the door and opened it without even checking first who it was first. I was so sure it would be Sjur. _

_Instead it was a stranger. A stranger with a huge smile. _

"_Yes?" I asked while I tried to read the thoughts of the person outside. I barely managed to keep my smile plastered on my face when I realized what kind of creature had rung my doorbell. _

_A fairie._

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**Chapter 27:**

"Hi Sookie," the fairie smiled. "I`m Kenneth." He stuck out his hand to me. Kenneth was a tall guy and even if his light brown hair covered what would be his pointy ears, he still carried the signs of being a fairie. He was hypnotically handsome.

"Hi," I said, but I didn`t give him my hand.

He looked at his empty hand with surprise.

"Oh, I`m sorry. I should have told you. Niall sent me. He sensed that you are in danger and he told me to come and get you."

Relief ran through my body. My fairy great-grandfather hadn`t deserted me. He had watched over me the whole time and I was saved. Now I just had to figure out a way to save Eric too.

"He did?" I opened the door more. "Welcome. Come in."

"Well, we can`t really stay long. I mean, we need to be far away before the … you know, your … vampire`s master wakes up."

"Sure. I just need to pack my stuff and we`ll be off." I pointed towards the living room, but he wasn`t going in there.

"You know, you can just buy new stuff. We really need to be off."

A nervous tick at his eye made me stop. Why would he have a nervous tick?

"How did you find me?" I had my crazy-Sookie-smile on now.

Kenneth smiled back "Your cousin gave me your address."

"Claude?" I didn`t understand it. Claude didn`t have my address, so how could he give it to me? "You went to see Claude?"

"Yes, Claude and I go way back. And now that we are the only ones left on this side, we`ve practically become brothers. He sends you a lot of hugs and kisses. He misses you so much and wants you back in Louisiana as soon as possible."

Now I had to work hard to keep my smile plastered on my face. Claude had not missed a person in his life and he would never send me hugs or kisses. He probably hadn`t even noticed I was gone.

"I miss Claude too," I lied. "Are we going back home?"

"We are. You know, I will keep you safe from whatever you were running from. With Niall`s help, of course. But we have to leave now. I have my car ready outside."

Kenneth was very convincing and his smile was warm. I almost wanted to believe him, but that was just not possible. My heart started beating harder when I started thinking about … the incident. I was not going to be the victim of any more fairy violence.

"Sure," I smiled. "I just need to get my medication. It`s in the fridge." I let my hand run over my belly to indicate that the medicine was for my pregnancy or for the baby.

I walked out to the kitchen before Kenneth, if that was his name, could say anything. I opened the door to the fridge and smiled when I saw that little yellow plastic bottle with lemon juice I had bought for the shrimp I ate with Sjur this summer. I had wanted to throw it away so many times because who really uses lemon juice from a bottle? But now it would be my finest weapon.

I unscrewed the green lid when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around as quickly as my stomach permitted it and squeezed the lemon bottle as hard as I could.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Kenneth yelled. With a quick sense of satisfaction, I saw that I had managed to get lemon juice into his eyes and he couldn`t see anything. He staggered in my direction, but I poured the rest of the lemon juice over his head and pushed him very hard so that he fell backwards into the kitchen table.

I ran to get the stake I had wanted to use on Appius. What I really needed was something made out of iron, but I couldn`t think of anything in my house. So the stake was my closest weapon.

I found the stake on the floor outside the guest room, picked it up and ran towards the living room and away from Eric. As much as I didn`t want to get hurt myself, leaving Kenneth behind with Eric, was not an option.

When I came to the living room, I heard Kenneth stumble his way towards me and I steadied myself with the stake. I was as ready as I had ever been to kill a fairy. I was not putting myself in the position of getting tortured. Not again.

Kenneth has lost his eye-sight and he was mad.

"I know you are there and I will fucking kill you, bitch," he shouted. "I hear that killing pregnant women is fun. I didn`t get to kill Claudine, but it will be a joy to tear that baby out of your stomach and watch your half-breed face while I do it. You will die slowly. I can promise you that."

His words about Claudine were painful, but they didn`t scare me. They made me all the more determined that Kenneth was not going to walk out of my house alive.

"I know you`re in here," he shouted. "I can hear your breath and your heartbeat."

"And so what?" I shouted back. If he could hear my breath, he might as well hear my contempt too. "That just means that my breath and my heartbeat will be the last things you hear before you die."

He laughed, but it wasn`t exactly a happy laugh.

"You stupid bitch. You are going to die just like your moron cousin, Claude."

"You killed Claude?" I gasped.

"Yeah, he`s with his sisters now."

"What the hell did Claude ever do to you?" I was back to shouting.

"He refused to tell me where you were!"

"He didn`t know, you fool! I never told him I was leaving." I wanted to throw something at Kenneth.

"Oops, my bad," Kenneth chuckled.

He was moving slowly, but getting closer and closer. His face looked awful, as if I had thrown acid on it and not lemon juice. I couldn`t help rejoicing just a little bit over the pain he was in.

"How did you know I was here?" I shouted.

That really had him laughing. "That stupid vampire, your lover`s master, he did all the ground work. I just needed to follow him and…" he waved out his hand at me "… here you were."

"You followed Appius?"

"Yeah, that was his name. I was trying to find your brother to torture him some when Appius beat me to it. And that was how I knew I could let him find you and just follow in his tracks."

"Appius tortured Jason?" I had put Jason in danger?

"He was still alive the last I saw him. But he won`t be after I`m finished here."

And suddenly Kenneth was close enough for me to reach him. I shoved the stake into his stomach, which made him scream out in pain. Then he hit me so hard, I could hear a bone crack somewhere in my head. I silently prayed it was my jaw or my nose and not my skull. The pain was everywhere as if something had exploded inside my skull.

Kenneth landed on top of me and pulled me down on the floor. I shoved at the stake again, trying to damage as many vital organs as possible, not really knowing what kind of vital organs a fairie had. His hands were on my chest and moved closer for my neck which made me scream. I screamed as loudly as I could and hit Kenneth in the face. I pulled his fairie ears and turned them around and screamed while I did it.

I screamed in pain and in desperation, but most of all, I screamed as old warriors screamed when they ran into battle. This was a fight I could very well lose, but I would not lose it without giving it all I had. And my scream was a part of my fight.

Suddenly my scream was no longer. Kenneth`s hands were on my throat and I was choking. I kicked and I pulled out the stake and tried to push it in again. I couldn`t push it into his chest, but used his weight on me to stab him in the shoulder. I had his blood all over me and his screams in my ear.

Then my vision started to blur. I could still hear very well, but my eyesight got grey and then black.

Just as it all turned dark, I saw Eric tumbling into the living room. He was like a sleepwalker, but there was determination in his step. The curtains were still drawn, so the sun didn`t hurt him. But the pull of the day made him slow and weak.

That was the last my brain registered before it gave in.

Xxxx

The last thing I lost and the first thing I got back was my hearing and I did not like what I heard. Eric and Kenneth were screaming and shouting. Things were breaking and being thrown around in the room. I tried to get up and just when I got to my feet, my eyesight kicked in again.

I was standing between the couch and the coffee table. I had no idea how I had gotten there, but I was glad I could lean on the couch on my way up.

The living room looked like a war zone. There were holes in the plaster on the wall, the floorboards were broken, furniture was scattered and in the middle Eric and Kenneth were at each other`s throats. Kenneth, weakened by the wounds I had given him and by his loss of eyesight and Eric, by the pull of the day.

In spite of his damages, Kenneth looked as if he was winning the fight. Eric was bleeding from his chest and his neck and his movements were sluggish at best. The stake was still in Kenneth and I hoped he wouldn`t connect the dots and use it on Eric.

I picked up a steel lamp, swearing that I would buy more iron furniture if I survived this, and made my way over to the fight, determined to knock Kenneth down. I took a deep breath and steadied myself. I was in poorer shape than I had thought. I was nauseous and I wanted to scream from the pain in my head, but I couldn`t lie back now. Kenneth was killing Eric and I couldn`t allow that to happen.

I was trying to convince my feet to move, but just then, Kenneth got up with Eric in his arms and the next thing I knew was Eric flying through the air and it was not by his own power. He came in my direction and even if I tried to duck, Eric`s knee knocked the wind out of me and I landed on the couch.

Eric made an alarming sound when he crashed onto the floor where I had just crawled up from. I looked at him, but he seemed gone. If it was because of his wounds or the fact that it was daytime, I wasn`t sure, but my heart froze. I was afraid it was the wounds that caused him to be immobile and it broke my spirit.

This would explain why I wasn`t more worried for my own life. Eric was out and Kenneth was coming towards me to kill me. It was just, seeing Eric on the floor, halfway under the coffee table, with his legs in an unnatural position – I knew I couldn`t go on living in a world that didn`t have Eric in it.

I didn`t want to live without Eric.

I had always depended on myself and now I was responsible for the little child I was carrying, but there, in just that minute, I didn`t care. What was the point if Eric was dead?

Kenneth had the meanest smile on his lips when he got up to his knees and turned his head in my direction and I just smiled back. So what if he was going to kill me? I was dead inside anyway.

Then I started having the weirdest hallucination.

Another person entered the room.

Another vampire.

Appius.

Kenneth`s smile suddenly looked like the smile of a kindergarten kid compared to the one Appius sported. He looked lethal, which was what he was.

Appius also had a slightly sluggish walk, but his age apparently made him more awake than Eric had been. Just as Eric was easier to wake up than Pam when I tried to get them both out before the bombs went off in Rhodes.

"What is all this shouting and screaming?" he asked as if he wondered who had turned on the television when it was supposed to be off. "I can hardly sleep." He looked at Eric under the table. "Did someone apart from me try to kill my child?" His voice was mildly scolding. Then he saw Kenneth. "Ah, Sookie. You called for take-away for me. How very nice of you. And fairy – my favorite!"

The next I knew Appius was on top of Kenneth, biting into his neck and Kenneth was trying to shake him off.

I was dizzy and had to sit down. The couch was soft and good and I felt as if I could sit there forever. My hand slid down to Eric`s cheek and I caressed it slowly, up and down, up and down, while I watched the two fighters on the floor. I didn`t even know which of them I wanted to win.

Kenneth would kill me now if he won, but Appius would do it in the long run. He would kill me slowly and painfully. I could always hope he wouldn`t, but wasn`t a quick death now better than a slow death in the future?

Suddenly I felt a hand on mine and looked down. Eric had moved. He wasn`t dead. Well, at least not dead-dead. Joy welled up in me and I smiled. Then I noticed his lips were moving and I bent down to hear what he was trying to say. I kissed his cheek on the way.

"The curtains, Sookie. The curtains," he whispered.

"What?"

I looked up and saw Kenneth not moving on the floor and Appius sucking so hard on his neck it sounded like a kid using a straw to get the last out of his milkshake. Then I looked at the curtains. The curtains that held the sun out from the room. The sun that would kill vampires.

I nodded even if Eric couldn`t see me. I couldn`t stake Appius, but I could kill him anyway.

I got up from the couch and walked towards the windows. Then I looked back at Eric. He was on the floor and even if the coffee-table would give him some cover, he was still just as much in danger from the sun as Appius was.

I stumbled back, got the afghan I had bought because it reminded me of the one I had back home in Bon Temps, and pulled it over Eric`s head and hands. He had clothes on his legs and feet and I hoped they would save him. My afghan wasn`t long enough to cover both Eric`s head and his feet.

Then I walked towards the windows again, glancing down at Appius who was too busy getting the last drops of fairy blood out of Kenneth to pay attention to me. Faster than I would have believed I could move, I was over at the heavy curtains and I quickly pulled them aside.

It was a sunny day and since the sun was low in the autumn in Norway, the rays went straight in through the windows and landed on Appius`s skin.

Smoke soon came up from Appius together with the most terrifying scream I had heard. I got goosebumps all over my skin from the sound. Or maybe it was from some terrible happiness I felt inside. The wicked witch of the West was dying. Or at least the wicked vampire from Rome.

Suddenly he burst up in flames and I started to worry about Eric again. He wasn`t flame-proof. But just as I was making my way over to Eric, to protect him from getting burned, a deep pain ran through my body.

I fell to the floor and went straight into fetal position. My head was hurting and so was my chest from Eric being thrown into me, but this was something else. I had had my first contraction.

I was going to give birth to my child.

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**A/N:**

I am so sorry for giving you yet another cliffhanger, but this story just seems to run from cliffie to cliffie. At least Appius is dead now. And Kenneth. I hope that is a consolation?

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**Having children in Scandinavia**

I`ve had people ask me about the rules for maternity/paternity leaves here in Scandinavia and that is a fitting subject now that Sookie is going to have a child. I have tried to find the latest updated rules, but since they change all the time, I give no guarantees.

**Norway**

One of the parents has the right to stay at home for 46 weeks, if they want their full wages or 56 weeks if they want 80% of their wages. If they didn`t have a job (being unemployed and getting benefits counts as having a job) and earned money before the childbirth, they get a sum of money instead, which is around 35,000 Norwegian kroner.

The mother has to stay at home 3 weeks before the birth and 6 weeks after. The father has to stay at home for 10 weeks. The parents can choose who is taking the rest of the weeks, but the fathers are encouraged to take out at least a third.

Every month parents get around 1000 Norwegian kroner per child from the state, up until the children are 18 years old. Single parents get twice the amount of money.

Parents can stay at home for 10 days a year each, with full pay, if the child is sick – 15 days for each parent if they have 3 or more children. Single parents get the double amount of time.

**Denmark**

One of the parents has the right to stay at home with the child for 52 weeks after the child is born. They will get a sum that is called "daymoney" in that period. This is the same amount you get when you are unemployed. If the parents worked before they had the child, they will get their full wages for 36 weeks. Some companies offer full wages all of the 52 weeks.

The mother has the right to stay at home for 4 weeks before the baby is born and 14 weeks after and the father has the right to stay at home for 2 weeks. The parents will have to agree on who is going to stay at home the rest of the time. Fathers are encouraged to take out (much) more than their 2 weeks.

Every year Danish parents get between 10,000 and 17,000 Danish kroner (amount varies with the child`s age) per child from the state.

Danish parents can stay at home one day each, every time the child is sick.

**Sweden**

Swedish parents have the right to stay at home with the child for 480 days after the child is born. The mother has to take 60 days and the father has to take 60 days. The parents will have to agree on who is going to stay at home for the rest of the time.

For 390 days they get 80% of their wages and for the 90 days left, they get 180 Swedish kroner per day. If the parents didn`t earn any money before they had the child, they get 180 Swedish kroner per day for the full period.

Swedish parents get around 1000 Swedish kroner each month for each child they have. They get an extra amount if they have many children.

Swedish parents can stay at home with sick kids and I couldn`t find limitations to this rule, though it seems as if they have a pretty bureaucratic system where you have to notify the authorities when the kid is sick. In Denmark and Norway you just notify the employer.

**Kindergartens**

In all of Scandinavia the politicians have worked pretty to ensure enough kindergartens for everyone and to make sure they are not too expensive. Norway has the most expensive kindergartens (around 2,300 Norwegian kroner a month). In Sweden and Denmark it`s almost half the price.

Most of the kindergartens are run by the cities, but also private entrepreneurs, churches and other organizations run kindergartens. All (approved) kindergartens get public funding on top of whatever the parents pay.

Scandinavian women work almost as much as Scandinavian men so kindergartens have been looked upon as one of the most important ways to ensure that there are kids born in Scandinavia. It seems to have been a wise decision because Scandinavia does have a pretty high birth rate compared to other European countries.

**Marriage**

We don`t get married, though. Around half the children in our part of the world are born out of wedlock. That doesn`t mean that they grow up without both parents or that their parents don`t get married later on in life. I suppose we are just too busy having sex and giving birth to children to bother getting married too.


	27. Chapter 27

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 27**

**A/N:**

Thank you for all your lovely reviews and questions. I love them so much – and I`m also very amazed with the attention this story has had. I just love seeing new reviewers working their way through this story – and then reading some of my older ones. That warms my heart. I, of course, also love the reviewers I`ve seen for each and every chapter all through the story. You put a smile on my face!

This chapter and this story would not have been posted if it hadn`t been for the lovely **Rascalthemutant** who I finally got to see face to face after having talked to her for 18 months. It`s so great do meet people and find they are even nicer IRL than online.

I was planning on posting this chapter on Friday, but I had problems with my internet connection _arrgh_. So now I hooked up via my cell phone and finally I got it posted.

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**From the previous chapter:**

_It was a sunny day and since the sun was low in the autumn in Norway, the rays went straight in through the windows and landed on Appius`s skin. _

_Smoke soon came up from Appius together with the most terrifying scream I had heard. I got goosebumps all over my skin from the sound. Or maybe it was from some terrible happiness I felt inside. The wicked witch of the West was dying. Or at least the wicked vampire from Rome. _

_Suddenly he burst up in flames and I started to worry about Eric again. He wasn`t flame-proof. But just as I was making my way over to Eric, to protect him from getting burned, a deep pain ran through my body. _

_I fell to the floor and went straight into fetal position. My head was hurting and so was my chest from Eric being thrown into me, but this was something else. I had had my first contraction. _

_I was going to give birth to my child. _

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**Chapter 27:**

I screamed. It felt as if all this morning had been about was screaming, but now I screamed like any woman did when her baby was being born. Only – I didn`t want my baby to be born now. Not here.

I tried to breathe and just as I had convinced myself it was just a nervous contraction, my body`s reaction to everything happening the last 12 hours, another one came.

My whole stomach went stiff and I screamed out again. I looked at Appius and the fire had almost died out without me noticing. Eric was completely still under the afghan and I started to wonder how much time had passed.

The doctor had told me I had to get to the hospital when my water broke or there were 3 minutes or less between my contractions, but no water had broken and I had no idea how far my contractions were apart.

I knew I was in a bad shape. I wasn`t supposed to give birth for another month. A month early shouldn`t be that bad, but I desperately wanted my baby to stay inside me for as long possible.

I also knew my head was hurt and some other parts of my body should probably be attended to by a doctor too. I should have gone to the phone, picked it up and dialed 112. Or was it 113. Or 110? Why did the Norwegians have to have separate numbers for the ambulance, the fire department and the police? When I thought about it, I knew I probably needed all three anyway, so I could just have called any of the numbers.

But I couldn`t pick up the phone. It would be almost impossible for me to make it all the way over to it, but that was not the reason why I didn`t make the call or calls I should have made.

I couldn`t leave Eric.

I got up, and with an almost superhuman effort, I pulled the curtains again and the living-room was dark, apart from a little glow where Appius had been burning. In my hazy state of mind I thought of marshmallows and bonfire and the evening I had had with Sjur this summer, the evening Eric had come back to me.

I fell to the floor again, was gone for a little while and when I opened my eyes, Sjur was bending over me, looking all weird and yelling things I couldn`t comprehend.

"Hi, Sjur," I smiled. I felt totally relaxed and happy. Deep down I knew that wasn`t good, but it felt fine just then.

Xxxxx

I saw men in white uniforms and orange vests rolling a stretcher into the living room. It was as if it wasn`t for me. As if I was watching some television show where they were picking up a wounded girl.

Then reality kicked in and I looked over at the floor by the coffee table. There was nothing there. Not even the afghan. I looked at where Appius had been and there was nothing. Even Kenneth was gone.

I screamed. Today was certainly the day for it.

Sjur came running.

"Where`s Eric?" I yelled.

"He is safe in his coffin."

"And…" I tried to point at where Appius and Kenneth had been.

"I dealt with it. Don`t worry, Sookie."

"Eric needs blood. He needs large quantities of blood to heal."

Sjur held up his arm and showed me his wrist. It had a nasty fangmark.

"He got something already and I put True Blood into the coffin with him." Sjur looked at me. "You should worry less about others and more about yourself. You don`t look…"

And that was the last I heard because then I was lifted up on the stretcher and my brain decided it wanted to spare me from the pain and I blacked out.

Xxxxx

"Can you hear me, Sookie?" It was Sjur`s voice and it was far away. "Sookie, are you awake?"

I could hear my own breath and when I tried to move my fingers, they moved. I opened my eyes and saw Sjur looking down into my face. I tried to smile at him, but I had some kind of bandages on my chin that prevented it.

Sjur grabbed my hand.

"Oh, Sookie. I was so worried about you."

"You`ve always called me Susanne?" I asked. I wasn`t sure why that was my first question. It should have been `what happened?`or `is the baby ok?`, but for some reason I needed to know why he called me Sookie.

He laughed, but it was a sad laugh. "Yes, but I also noticed that you never liked it much. Now that Appius is gone, I figured you didn`t need to hide and…" His face got very serious and he bent all the way down to me. "I`m so sorry, Sookie! I`m so sorry." He started to cry and I couldn`t breathe.

What had happened that was so bad, he had to cry? Was Eric dead? Was the baby…? My hand moved to my stomach which was just as large and round as it had been when I was lying on the stretcher.

I took Sjur`s hand. "What is it, Sjur?"

Sjur looked at me for a long time and then he took a deep breath.

"It was my fault Eric`s maker found you."

"WHAT? You contacted him?" I tried to sit up, but I couldn`t.

"What? No!" Sjur`s face was full of surprise. "No, he showed up at the castle and Steinngrim wasn`t in. And then…" Sjur studied his hand and then he took mine. "And then I was under his vampire spell." Sjur sighed heavily. "I swear, Sookie, I thought it could never happen. I thought I could keep vampires out of my brain and then this." He looked me in the eyes again. "I didn`t realize it until this morning and I came as soon as I knew. I`m so sorry I sent him to you."

"You were glamored?" I asked.

"Yes." Sjur looked so devastated, I wanted to give him a hug. I tugged at his hand to make him bend down and then I gave his cheek a kiss.

"You can`t help it when a vampire glamors you. It`s not your fault. And Appius would probably have found us even if he hadn`t glamored you into telling him." I took at deep breath. "But Sjur, I need you to tell me… what happened to… how is…"

"Eric?" Sjur asked.

"Yes." I was so tense, my whole body felt like one huge knot. Then suddenly I felt calm, even happy. There could only be one reason for that sudden change of moods. I looked at the door and saw it open. I knew who was coming and started to smile.

"You called my name?" A tall, blond, sexy, irresistible, smirking man stood in the doorway.

"Eric," I sighed. "You survived!"

Xxxx

I started feeling dizzy again and Eric was suddenly sitting next to me in the chair that had been occupied by Sjur just seconds ago. When I looked around, Sjur was gone.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"You took a blow to your head. You`ve been unconscious for a couple of days."

"A couple of days?" I whispered. It felt as if just hours ago my living room was the war turf of vampires and fairies.

"More like a week, actually." Eric smiled. "Which was good because it gave me time to heal so I could be with you when you woke up."

"Every cloud has a silver lining."

Eric bent down and kissed me so lightly on my mouth, I wasn`t sure he`d even done it.

"There are only silver linings with you, Lover."

I giggled. "I didn`t get hit on the head hard enough for you to be that cheesy." I pursed my lips to make him kiss me again. I couldn`t reach for him and I couldn`t get up, so pursing was all I could do.

Luckily, Eric understood the international language of kissing. He bent down again and kissed me very lightly, just like the first time.

"I want more, Eric. I`m not dead. I want a real kiss now. I think I`m entitled to one."

Eric leaned back and smiled at me.

"Your jaw is broken and you have a concussion. I`ll kiss you as deeply as you want as soon as you are healed. I promise you that," Eric winked. "I`ll kiss you as deeply as you want, anywhere you want, when you are well again, Sookie."

I smiled at him and relaxed back into the pillow.

"So everything is fine now? I mean, I have to heal, but the baby is fine and Appius and that fairie are dead. We are safe?"

That earned me another kiss. "Safe is not a word I would use to a vampire, but we are not in immediate danger."

I smiled and fell asleep again. I would probably have been more worried or angry or sad, but I had all kinds of goodies pumped into me through the IV and they made the world just a little more bearable. With Eric next to me, how couldn`t I smile?

Xxxx

It turned out I wasn`t leaving the hospital as soon as my jaw and concussion were healed. When Eric came to pick me up and take me home, my water broke out of the blue and contractions were way closer than 3 minutes apart. No warnings, just a lot of water and very painful contractions.

So instead of releasing me and letting me go, the hospital staff wheeled me three floors down to the maternity ward. Eric walked beside me all the way down, saying things to calm me down when he probably needed it just as much himself. He was even paler than his usual vampire self and his hand held mine rather stiffly.

"It`ll be fine, Eric," I said between contractions. "I won`t die on you."

He smiled a nervous smile.

"I know," he said, but he didn`t really believe it.

Xxxx

I didn`t die. I gave birth to a healthy little girl.

Eric had probably seen his share of pain and torture throughout his 1000 years on this earth and he had learned to keep his face neutral no matter what he or his loved ones were submitted to, but his face was everything but neutral during the birth.

He looked as if he was the one pushing 10 pounds of child out of his body. Or worse, he looked as if he was looking at death and he wasn`t liking what he was seeing.

Through his luck, and mine too, of course, it was a quick birth. Eric tried to be happy when it was over, but I could see that his fears were only replaced with relief. It wasn`t until he held the baby in his hands that a genuine smile spread on his lips.

"Hallo, little Adele," he said to the girl.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

Eric looked at me while kissing the head of our little girl. He smiled.

"Your grandmother meant a lot to you. I think we should name our daughter after her."

I smiled at his sentiment.

"What about your mother? We could name our girl after her?"

Eric just shook his head. "You know I`m not sentimental. I`ve lived for so long a time and seen so much. I don`t need my child to be named after anyone. But you still miss your grandmother. Why not name her after the woman who meant so much to you?"

I was overwhelmed with emotions. I had just given birth to a lovely baby girl and now Eric was making such a sweet suggestion.

But I didn`t want my daughter to be named after Gran. Gran was Gran and I missed her very much, but naming our daughter after her, wouldn`t bring her back.

And our daughter was _our_ daughter. Not my daughter. So we should pick the name together. The name should mean something to the both of us.

"I think we should name our daughter Pam," I smiled.

"_Pam??"_ I`d rarely seen Eric more surprised.

"Yes. We both love Pam and naming our baby after her would mean something to her too, I think."

"I`m sure it would," Eric chuckled. "You know, Pam isn`t exactly sentimental, but I think she would appreciate this."

This was how our little daughter ended up being called Pam.

Xxxx

After the fairie attack back home, I had spent months recovering. I was deeply hurt both mentally and physically.

This time I was exhausted after the birth and I had bruises and broken bones, but I was not brought down. I was worn out, but happy and in a good state of mind.

When I walked over our door step with Pam in my arms, I realized I hadn`t been home since before… before everything. My shoulders tightened when I looked through the hallway to the living room, but there were no clues to what had happened there.

"How could a vampire burn up there without leaving burn marks?" I asked Eric.

"Sjur wanted to make up for what he did so he made some repairs."

"But he couldn`t help that he was glamored."

"No, but he wanted to."

Pam woke up and started to cry. I sat down in the easy chair and started to breastfeed her. Eric went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water. I looked at him, not really understanding why a vampire wanted water. Then he handed it to me.

"Thank you." I really was thirsty and realized I needed the water.

We had never talked about how we were going to share the new responsibility of having a baby in the house. I had assumed I would be more or less alone bringing up our baby. I had joked about Eric changing all the dirty nappies at night when I was asleep, but I hadn`t really expected him to.

So I was surprised when Eric took little Pam out of my hands after she was breastfed, put her on his shoulder and made her burp. And when she did more than burp, and loudly from the other end, he took her to the bathroom and changed her diaper.

"Not a lot has changed," he said proudly when he came back.

I laughed. "Yeah, you had the same type of diapers a thousand years ago."

"I mean with the babies, Lover."

It hit me right in my gut, or rather further down, every time he called me Lover. For obvious reasons, we hadn`t had sex in weeks and it would still be weeks until I was allowed to have it again. I wasn`t really sure when I would be physically ready, right now it felt like never, but I still couldn`t hear him call me `Lover` without yearning.

I smiled at Eric. He put Pam in the crib in our bedroom and came over and sat on the floor between my legs. His hands moved up my legs to my thighs.

"We will have plenty of time when your body is back in shape, Lover," he whispered into my stomach.

"Are you calling me fat?" I teased.

Eric laughed and touched my breasts. One big hand on each one.

"Your breasts have grown."

"Having a baby will do that to you." I smiled.

"And you look good enough to eat," he growled into my neck.

"I think Pam will agree," I laughed.

"Maybe she will prefer the soft shapes of women, like Pam."

When we decided our baby was to be named after Pam, we hadn`t taken into consideration that it would be complicated to have two people with the same name in our small extended family.

"Oh, I think there would be a few more lesbians in this world if breast feeding made you prefer women." I let my index finger slide down his strong nose.

"I`ve always preferred the soft shapes of women myself and I was breast-fed," he chuckled.

A cold feeling crawled up my spine. I remembered who Eric had been forced to have sex with when he was younger. Someone who was very far from having womanly shapes.

Eric leaned into me and his hand moved from my breast to my hair.

"Sssssh, Love. This is all behind us."

"All of it?"

Eric was still.

"What is it Eric?" I asked, now the cold feeling down my spine had turned to ice.

He pulled back and I studied his face to see if I could see anything, but Eric had had more practice than me to not reveal anything he didn`t want to reveal.

"Is there something I should know?" I asked, my voice slightly colder now.

Eric got up and kissed my cheek.

"I want to spend your first day back from the hospital just being a father, not a vampire," he said.

"But you are both."

"And I love being both. But tonight I want to just snuggle with you and change diapers on my little girl. Not talk about politics."

I wanted to snuggle too. We had put behind us a terrible ordeal, I had just given birth to a child and I was worn out. I got up and Eric pulled me into his arms.

"So let`s go snuggle," I said. And we did.

Xxxxx

We snuggled and it was a beautiful thing. And when Pam cried, we took her into our bed, I breastfed her and we snuggled with her too.

"This is life," Eric whispered into my neck.

I nodded because it certainly was life to have my little daughter at my breast and the man I loved cuddling into my back.

* * *

**A/N:**

No cliffhanger this time. I hope you liked the chapter all the same. Sookie and Eric needed some cuddling now, right?

Have you been annoyed with SVM-Sookie not sitting down and having a conversation with Eric? I know I have. Doctor **Peppermintyrose** has prescribed (and written) a story for you: **www . fanfiction . net/s/5877665/1/Suppression** . Go read it. It will make you feel much better about Sookie`s reactions.

* * *

**Questions about Scandinavia**

I`ve had a lot of questions and very positive reactions to these A/Ns. Here are a couple of answers:

**Q:** Is your Kindergarten only for five-year-olds as ours is?

**A:** No. I may have used the English term Kindergarten wrong in my last A/N. Our Kindergarten is from the child is ready leave the parents, which would usually be when the maternity/paternity leave is over. The child is then a year or a year and a half old. Some people stay home longer with their children or they have them looked after by a person who does this for a living in his or her own home. These people can get paid by the city (or as in Norway, the parents get a sum of money they can use for this if they don`t use the kindergarten) and the city will thus have some kind of control with them through check-ups and supporting them with courses.

I must say I was surprised when I read all your responses about how fast you had to be back at work after having had your children. I have an older family member who had to go to work when her child was 6 weeks old and she still speaks about it as the worst time of her life. This was back in the sixties. So yeah, I`m glad my husband and I could stay home for a year with both our children. The last half year we shared so that we both were home every other day and at work every other day. That was perfect because that way be both got to be close to the baby and keep up with our jobs. I had an hour free for breastfeeding every day when I was at work. My husband would come to my job with our baby around noon or I would pump myself if he couldn`t fit a visit to my job into his schedule (though one really feels like a milking cow pumping oneself in ones office :-P).

Here we are encouraged to only breastfeed until the child is 6 months and to breastfeed combined with solid food until the child is 2 years. This is why I got an hour off every day for breastfeeding (and I do believe it`s two hours now).

**Q:** Do you eat Lutefisk (fish soaked in lye)? Is it just a joke, or do people really eat that stuff?

**A:** Well, if you`re asking if I eat Lutefisk then the answer is `not, if I can help it`. Unfortunately I can`t always escape traditions and every November and December Norway is filled with Lutefisk-munching maniacs. At least you get a lot of Akvavitt to down it with. And it`s not as bad as the smoked sheep heads some Norwegians eat (and yes, I have managed to avoid those even if I`m married to a guy who eats them once a year with his friends and is SO thrilled if he was the one who got the tongue. Yuck).

**Q:** Is it true that Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world?

**A:** I guess that depends on whether you are a tourist of if you live here. It may be an expensive country to visit, especially now that the exchange rate that makes the Norwegian kroner pretty expensive. But I don`t think it`s that expensive to live here. We have fairly high salaries. Especially the people who earn little in other countries will earn more here. But this is not a country where you earn multimillions. The lowest wages are higher than in most countries and the highest are lower. But then again – how many eggs can one person eat for breakfast?

And a lot of things are free here. Water, school, university, health care etc.

**Q:** Do Scandinavian men prefer blondes?

**A:** A lot of you have asked me that question :-D and my only answer is "why should they?" Being blond around here is pretty boring. Most people have some kind of blond hair and a lot of us dye it brown or black to stand out and to get attention. We are always so surprised when we go to Greece, Italy or Spain and actually get attention for having blond hair (well, the blond hair combined with our slutty ways when we are on vacation, is probably what is getting us the attention) because we are just not used to it.  
So no, I`m pretty sure that Scandinavian men find dark hair just as exotic as Scandinavian women do.

**Q:** My question about the Scandinavian countries is why does the rest of the world not follow your example?

**A:** Hehe, you would have to ask the rest of the world about that one, but I don`t think most of what we do would fit in the rest of the world.

Actually this question made me grow an enormous guilty conscience (we Scandinavians are experts at that). I work in PR and I love Scandinavia and I suddenly felt all guilty about using my trade to trick you all into loving what I love. So this last part is dedicated to the negative sides of living here.

**Why Scandinavia is such a rotten place to live in**

(this headline cost me a lot to write because I love living here, but ah, you know what I mean)

**The weather**: It`s cold, snowy, rainy, windy, gray and just miserable most of the year. The few days we have sun it`s like Christmas Eve and we throw off all our clothes and try to catch as many rays as we can. We will never understand the concept of air conditioners. No need for those here.

**Being so high up to the north**: Most of the year we don`t see the sun and that`s not just because of the miserable weather. It`s just not there. It`s dark when we go to work and dark when we go home. In some parts of Scandinavia they don`t see the sun at all, but for most of us it`s up when we are sitting in our offices. And then in the summer the sun is up all day. This means that we can`t seem to go to bed because who goes to bed when the sun is shining? So in the winter we are broody and in the summer we are tired.

**Scandinavians**: If you expect the happy and joyous people you find in brochures, you will be disappointed. Try and get a Scandinavian to say what he really thinks about something and he will react like any teenager. He will shrug and say it`s ok and leaving you to wonder if he really thought it was ok or if he was mad at you. He probably wasn`t mad. We are just not a people who show great emotions. We are like that deep forest lake, smooth on the top, but with things hidden deep down. 10 beers will make our emotions surface, but they will probably have you running away screaming since the emotions are combined with tears and/or groping hands.

**Gender equality**: This is what makes Scandinavia a great place to live for those of us who were born here, but a lot of people are shell shocked when they move here because of our gender equality. Yes, it sounds really nice that our husbands stay at home and look after our children and that they clean the house and even buy Christmas presents for their own mothers (and maybe your mother too if you are lucky).  
But it means that you have to change the tires, mow the lawn and earn half the money for the family. It also means that you have to take some of the initiative when you want someone. You can`t be a pretty flower batting your eyes at a guy and expecting him to wine and dine you into bed and happy ever after. So if you want to live here, you have to be able to say "can I buy you a drink?" while groping his butt.

**Community spirit/the Jante Law**: Out community spirit is something that has its good sides, but definitely also its bad. We feel we are all a little nut or bolt in a big machinery. We all pay our taxes and we dislike people who don`t. We all do our best and help each other, but we dislike people who try to get ahead while stepping on other people`s backs. We do not look up to our billionaires or those seeking fame and fortune. We dislike them. We feel that they got there at other people`s expense.  
So this is not the place to stick your nose up and think you are better than anyone else because you will soon be told that you are not.  
The good side of this is that it keeps people grounded – even when they go to Hollywood and become famous vampires. But sometimes it goes way too far. In smaller communities people can gossip behind neighbors backs just because they bought a new car.  
This whole way of thinking is written down in a book and called the Jante Law (http : // en . wikipedia . org/wiki/Jante_Law) by author Axel Sandemose:

The ten rules state:

Don't think that _you_ are special.

Don't think that _you_ are of the same standing as _us_.

Don't think that _you_ are smarter than _us_.

Don't fancy _yourself_ as being better than _us_.

Don't think that _you_ know more than _us_.

Don't think that _you_ are more important than _us_.

Don't think that _you_ are good at anything.

Don't laugh at _us_.

Don't think that any one of _us_ cares about _you_.

Don't think that _you_ can teach _us_ anything.

The Cardamom Law Just to lighten up the image of us after the very broody Jante Law (hey, I`m in PR – can`t let you have only the negative side, can I?), we also have a cuter law written by Thorbjørn Egner. The Cardamom Law. This is the law I think should be our constitution:

_You should not bother others,_

_you should be nice and kind,_

_otherwise you can do as you please._

Have a nice Sunday!


	28. Chapter 28

**Dead with the Vikings – chapter 28**

**A/N**:

I just loved your comments about the baby being named Pam. Most of you loved it (or so you said) and some hated it (well, you were polite and said "didn`t like" :-D). I can tell you it was much harder to find a name for Eric and Sookie`s baby than for my own two. I just knew I didn`t want them to have yet another Adele or Alex.

I want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for reading and correcting this chapter. She is hopefully home again though her plane got cancelled. It was so great to see her and we even got to watch a (shitty) football game with Hammarby. Yay!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_We snuggled and it was a beautiful thing. And when Pam cried, we took her into our bed, I breastfed her and we snuggled with her too. _

"_This is life," Eric whispered into my neck. _

_I nodded because it certainly was life to have my little daughter at my breast and the man I loved cuddling into my back. _

**Chapter 28**

It seemed as if we were cuddling for a month and we probably were. Pam slept a lot, ate a lot, cried a lot and used a lot of diapers. And Eric and I were together. No sex, just enjoying each other`s company.

We had oceans of time together. Even if I hated the dark and cold Norwegian winter, I welcomed the fact that Eric was gone for fewer and fewer hours each day and that we could spend most of our time together.

We were a family.

I had never thought I would be getting a family. First my telepathy prevented me from having boyfriends and then when I found men I actually could date, they were vampires and you usually don`t put `vampire` and `family` in the same sentence. Unless it was a police report saying `a vampire ate the whole family`.

But having Pam made me miss the rest of my family. Not that I had a lot of it, but I found myself missing Jason and Hunter. And also the people I had come to look at as family. Sam, Amelia, Tara, Bill. I wanted to show them my precious little daughter and I couldn`t.

I couldn`t even show Pam to her namesake. Pam, who I had started calling Pamela to make it clear who I was talking about, hadn`t been to Norway since this summer. Eric said she was trying to make a career for herself, which I figured translated into `Pam is killing a lot of vampires`. She still called us every week. First she wanted me to give her the latest news about little-Pam, as she had named her. She loved it when I could tell her stories about Eric getting poop all over himself or being frantic about Pam crying. But then she would ask for Eric and they would talk about something I wasn`t a part of.

Xxxxx

Christmas was getting closer and I was getting slightly melancholic. It wasn`t as if my Christmases back in Bon Temps had been any huge family gathering. Not since Gran died, at least, and not even before. I didn`t have family enough for large gatherings, but after Gran died I had been alone or I had been at work on Christmas and on New Year`s Eve. It was a bit sad, thinking about it now, but at the time, I`d never given it a second thought.

I missed Bon Temps. I had love, but I didn`t really feel I had a home.

So when Eric announced in the beginning of December that he had to go back again, there was no doubt in my mind.

"I`m going with you," I said. I was sitting on our bed, breastfeeding Pam.

"And you will come with me," he smiled. "Just not right now."

"Why not right now?" Even I could hear how ridiculous I sounded, but when you had just given birth to a child four weeks earlier, one should be entitled to a fair amount of ridiculousness.

Apparently Eric thought so too because he sat down next to me, pulled one arm around my shoulder and caressed the breast Pam wasn`t eating from, with his other hand.

"Because it`s dangerous now. This is the final stage and very soon it will be safe for you to join me."

He leaned down and kissed my breast. I was wearing one of those neat bras that can be opened, one breast at a time, to breastfeed. I had unveiled one breast for Pam. Now Eric opened the other side of the bra. He kissed my nipple and, very gently, he sucked on it. He didn`t suck on it the way Pam sucked on my nipples. He did it the way Eric had sucked on them before Pam was born.

I moaned slightly and felt like a very bad person to moan sexually when my daughter was in my arms. I looked at Eric`s beautiful blond hair, moving slightly up and down my chest, and then I remembered we had been in the middle of a conversation. Eric had a certain way of making me forget what we were talking about.

"What is dangerous? What are you going to do?"

Eric looked up, his eyes full of the mischief I had missed for weeks.

"Pam has her eyes set on becoming queen of Louisiana." And then he was back at sucking my breast.

"Pamela wants to be… how?" I asked. This was completely news to me.

"Usually you become queen by killing the old one, but there`s really no need to kill Felipe. Pam doesn`t want Nevada or Arkansas. Just Louisiana." Eric made it sound like such a humble request.

"And Felipe will give it to her?" I asked.

Eric laughed against my nipple.

"No, he doesn`t know she is alive. Not yet. But Pam has been gathering a few loyal people and they have taken out both Sandy and Victor." Eric talked as if Pam had been out shopping for new clothes.

"She killed Sandy and Victor?"

"Uh huh," Eric answered while giving my nipple an extra lick.

"But why does she want to become queen? I thought you couldn`t be king or queen until your master was dead?"

Eric lifted his head. "It`s not a rule, that the master has to be dead. Just a precaution to make sure the master isn`t a king behind the king. This is why I have to go over. I have to show people that Pam can govern the way she wants to. I will protect her, of course. She is my child. But I will not interfere."

Pam had fallen asleep in my arms, her mouth still on my nipple. Eric looked at her, took her in his arms and carried her to her crib. I had started fastening my bra again, when Eric turned around.

"Don`t, Lover. Let me look at you." His voice was hoarse.

"You want me to lie here with my breasts on display?" I giggled.

"I would have preferred for you to walk around with your breasts on display. At all times. This view is a very nice second best."

His smile had suddenly become the smile of a predator and I realized his fangs were down. It sent some very hot messages to my lower parts and I knew I wanted nothing more than to have sex with Eric. Now.

"Come over here, Eric," I said, holding out my arms to him.

"I can`t, Sookie," he whispered. "If I go over to you now, to my sexy Lover, I will not be able to hold back. So I will just stay here and admire the view."

"Then don`t hold back."

"But the doctor said six weeks. It`s only been four."

Eric took one step back as if I was a large magnet and he needed to get out of my reach. It was a great feeling to have that kind of influence on him. I didn`t feel very sexy in general, what with the extra weight, the stretch-marks and the constant smell of milk, but right now, when Eric looked at me, I felt like the hottest woman in the Northern hemisphere.

"I`ve been taking your blood. I`m sure I`ve healed more than enough. Don`t worry."

Eric came slowly over towards the bed. "Maybe you could take a little more of my blood," he said. The predator was back.

"Maybe I could. It couldn`t hurt, could it?" Somehow I managed to find a sexy voice.

"Oh, it would probably hurt when you bite my skin," Eric answered and it was clear that the pain he was referring to, wasn`t something he objected to. Not at all.

"Then why are you standing over there when your …. Lover needs your blood?" I winked at him.

And in vampire speed Eric was definitely not standing anywhere. He was next to me. On top of me. All over me.

Then we were naked next to each other. Eric with the hot body he had always had and me… well, my body was different. I froze slightly at the thought. My body would be in constant change and his would be the same. My breasts would sag, my stomach would become doughy, my upper arms would flap and…

"What is it, Lover?" Eric whispered while licking and kissing my neck.

"I`ve changed," I said.

"Of course you`ve changed. You`ve brought new life to this world. You`re a mother now."

"Yes, but my body…"

"Your body will keep changing and I will look forward to seeing each and every one of those changes."

And with that he kissed his way down my chest, my stomach and to the place that had just given birth to our little miracle.

Things worked just as well down there as they had done before. Eric licked and nibbled and sucked, while tentatively working his miracles inside me with his large fingers. I tensed when his finger entered me, but it felt good. Not just good. Perfect.

I writhed and bucked under the intensity and it seemed as if Eric enjoyed the ride too because he made some loud noises against my sensitive skin.

And then the feeling came. That feeling I hadn`t had since before Pam was born. Since before Kenneth tried to kill me. Since before Appius came to our house. That very special feeling where your skin starts to go numb and you explode in pure pleasure.

I roared out loudly, my body shaking in the aftershocks of a huge orgasm and my hands pulling Eric up to me.

I didn`t have to ask him twice. In a matter of seconds, he was on top of me, the tip of him at my entrance. He looked me in the eyes as if to ask for permission and when I nodded, he slowly entered me.

I was afraid I would have become too wide after the birth. That I would lose out on that great feeling of Eric being so huge inside me. But very soon I knew my worries had been silly. Eric was huge, he had always been huge and he would always be huge.

I moaned when he was so deep in me he couldn`t get further. We lay still for a moment and enjoyed how we fit so perfectly – and then I bit him.

I lifted my head and bit him in the neck and I sucked all I could.

Eric groaned and started moving faster and faster and before I knew it, another orgasm was approaching.

I let go of Eric`s neck, pulled his head back so I could look him deep in those sky blue eyes and then my heart grew out of my chest. I loved that man so much.

"I love you, Eric," I said. I couldn`t help myself. And then I came and everything felt so good.

Eric pushed in and out of me a few more times, enhancing my orgasm, and then his body stiffened and he came with the growl I had missed so much.

"I love you too, Sookie," he said when he fell onto the bed.

I could have sworn he panted.

Xxxxx

Eric did leave me and I didn`t go with him. That didn`t mean that he went alone. Steinngrim, Sjur and a couple of the guys Eric had been teaching sword-fighting to went with him.

I was home when Steinngrim came to tell us about his decision. He looked pretty agitated for a vampire when I opened the door for him.

I had hardly had time to give him a True Blood before he started talking. There was no `how is the baby?` or `nice weather today`. The last would have been impossible to say anyway. The weather was awful.

"I want to go with you, Eric," he said with a very determined voice.

"You can`t, Steinngrim. You know that. You are king here. You can`t overthrow kings on other continents. It would completely destroy your power base if anyone found out."

"But you need my help," Steinngrim stated.

"We need all the help we can get. Just not yours." Eric sounded friendly enough, but there was an undertone to his voice.

"And why is that? You still don`t trust me? Your maker is dead and you still think I would double-cross you?" Steinngrim was getting angry.

"That is not the reason why I don`t want you with us." Eric was calm.

"Come on, Eric. We`ve known each other since we were human. Don`t lie to me. Please."

"Steinngrim. Both you and I know what you did. Or rather what you didn`t do. But this is not the reason why I`m asking you to stay in Norway."

"What did he do?" I asked. I had no idea what they were talking about. "What happened between you two?"

Eric looked at Steinngrim as if he wanted him to explain. Steingrimm nodded.

"Eric and I had an understanding," he started. "And I broke it."

"Okay," I prompted him on.

Steinngrim started to look tormented. He had never been good at keeping a neutral vampire face, but now it looked as if his features were falling apart.

"Eric promised to kill my maker if I killed his."

I looked at Eric who managed his neutral face just fine.

"Is that true?" I asked him.

Eric nodded. "Appius was a hard maker to live with and he didn`t seem to want to let me go."

"Hard to live with?" My voice was just a few tones too loud. "That must me the understatement of the year."

A small smile flickered over Eric`s lips.

"Indeed, Sookie. That is an understatement."

"So what happened?"

It wasn`t Eric who answered my question, but Steinngrim.

"Eric held his part of the bargain, but I never managed to kill Appius. It was just too hard." Steinngrim came over to me and held both my hands in his. "Especially considering what happened here, with you, I am sorry." He lifted my hands to his lips and kissed them. "Can you forgive me? I did try to kill him. And I did my very best to protect you here." He sighed. "I know I screwed up on both things, but…"

Steinngrim looked devastated and I felt so bad for him, I pulled him into a hug. I had no idea how much pain he had brought on Eric by not killing Appius when he promised to, but I had to forgive him. I couldn`t bring myself to hate him.

"I forgive you, Steinngrim." I pulled back from the hug. "I obviously can`t speak for Eric, but Appius is dead and I have always appreciated our friendship. Even back in… Even when you were human."

Steinngrim smiled a little. "The friendship I unfortunately cannot recall."

I pulled back from Steinngrim and looked at Eric. There was no way to tell what he was thinking. Then he came over to us. He took my hand.

"Sookie said it better than me, Steinngrim, but I forgave you years ago. I may not have trusted you entirely afterwards, but then I don`t really trust that many people." Eric squeezed my hand just a little bit.

"Then let me come with you," Steinngrim said.

Eric sighed. "You may ruin everything for yourself."

"Let me have that choice."

Eric looked at Steinngrim for a while. Then he smiled.

"As I said. Pam will need all the help she can get. I suppose that includes you."

It looked as if Steinngrim had to hold himself back so as to not jump up and down in joy. I smiled and hugged both vampires. And then Pam started to cry and I went to the bedroom and let the two old and renewed friends talk.

When Eric came to bed that night, he showed me his gratitude in kind.

Xxxx

I had to smile when I stood in the airport and waved goodbye to Eric, Steinngrim, Sjur and a dozen other men. I could imagine how women had waved goodbye to men going off to conquer, pillage and steal in foreign lands a thousand years ago. Only back then they waved to boats going slowly out a fjord. I had to stand in an airport building and watch Steinngrim`s private plane disappear in the distance.

I shouldn`t have smiled, of course. As the Viking women shouldn`t have smiled when they sent their men off. Like them, I didn`t know when I would get my man back. I didn`t even know if I would get him back.

But like them I also knew the gain could be worth the pain. And I knew there was no other way around it. If Pam wanted to become queen, she would need Eric`s support, or it would just not happen.

So I smiled. I smiled, confident that I would get my man back and that the battle would be won. I carried Pam on one arm and tried to wave to Eric through the window.

Eric saw me through the darkness of the evening and blew me a kiss. Or at least some 6`4`` guy with long blond hair did. My night vision wasn`t as good as Eric`s. But with the kiss glued to my heart, I went back to our house to wait for Eric. Again.

* * *

**A/N:**  
I hope you liked this chapter.

I said a couple of chapters ago that this story wasn`t over until the fat lady sang. Well, the fat lady is warming up her voice now. I`m no fan of dragging out my stories and this one will be ended pretty soon. I may have to join a Vikinglovers Anonymous group, though, because writing this story has been pretty addictive.

But I have two one-shots coming up shortly. **Miss Construed** and **E-F-M** were generous enough to bid on me in the Support Stacie Auction and will have a story each. And for all of you who have been asking me about **Dead without a Work Permit**: I will post a new chapter as soon as the two one-shots are out there.

* * *

**Sun in Scandinavia**

We have sun here now. It was winter two weeks ago and the last snow in my garden melted last week. This week, though, the sun is shining, flowers are blooming and people are wearing shorts and t-shirts. It is 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) and "summer". Yay!

The sun is up longer in the evenings, people show their extremely pale arms and legs (yes, we do take off our clothes as soon as we can – you never know when you get your next chance) and we drink beer outside.

So I`m cutting this short. I`m going out in the sun and anyone standing between me and a beer will be very sorry!

Have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening!


	29. Chapter 29

**Dead with the Vikings – Chapter 29**

**A/N: **

This story now has more than 100,000 hits, 600 subscribers and 450 readers have made it their favorite. And it has had an amazing amount of reviewers. This makes me speechless and grateful. Very grateful. I want to take this opportunity to thank you all!

I also want to thank **Rascalthemutant** at the **Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum** for reading the whole story and for correcting my mistakes. You do not want to see what the story looked like before she had it in her tender care.

And I want to thank **Peppermintyrose** for our great discussions on Sookie Stackhouse and Eric Northman.

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**From the previous chapter:**

_So I smiled. I smiled, confident that I would get my man back and that the battle would be won. I carried Pam on one arm and tried to wave to Eric through the window. _

_Eric saw me through the darkness of the evening and blew me a kiss. Or at least some 6`4`` guy with long blond hair did. My night vision wasn`t as good as Eric`s. But with the kiss glued to my heart, I went back to our house to wait for Eric. Again. _

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**Chapter 29:**

One good thing about having a baby in the house is that you are kept busy. Busy and tired. I wasn`t sure if Pam missed Eric too or if she was just going through a phase, but she kept me awake both day and night which was good. After a few days I was so tired I couldn`t think straight. And I couldn`t worry about Eric.

Eric had warned me that he wouldn`t be able to keep in contact while he was gone – and he had been right. December came and I didn`t hear a word from him. Streets were dressed up with pine branches and lights, shops were busy with Christmas shoppers and newspapers were filled with Christmas stories.

For once, I could look forward to a really white Christmas, but I was alone. Well, Pam and I were alone. I still wanted Pam to have a nice Christmas so I decorated the house with small ornaments and put lights in the windows the way I had seen neighbors do it.

I was planning on a Christmas alone. That is, it wouldn`t be quite alone. It would be my first Christmas as a mother.

Xxxxx

On the 23rd I got the call I dreaded. It wasn`t Eric on the phone, but Pamela. My heart stopped in my chest and I had a hard time breathing. It wasn`t supposed to be Pamela calling me, but Eric. It could never be good news if Pamela called me. All those thoughts, and a million more, ran through my head.

"Hi, Sookie. You have to get on a plane immediately," was her first greeting.

"What? What do you mean? What has happened? Is Eric ok?" I screamed.

Then I heard a sound in the background that almost made me faint. It was a growl. A very familiar growl. Eric.

"I told you not to call Sookie, Pam," he shouted in a very angry tone and then there was a noise as if the phone shifted hands and Eric was on the other end of the line.

"Pack your bags, Lover. It`s safe to come home." I could hear his smile over the phone.

"And by home you mean…?"

"Louisiana, Shreveport, Bon Temps – just jump on the plane."

"I can`t just jump on a plane the day before Christmas."

"Yes, you can." Sometimes Eric was very literal. "Steinngrim`s plane will be waiting for you at seven."

I shook my head, but I also had a huge smile on my face. I was going home. Then I remembered. We were going to my home, not Eric`s.

"For how long am I packing?" I asked.

"For good," was Eric`s short answer.

"We can`t go back for good. We live in your home. Your country. We have to talk about where we are going to live. I can`t just force you to live in a foreign country."

Eric was quiet for a while.

"Norway hasn`t been my home in centuries, Sookie. I`m not a sentimental man. I will live wherever I can survive, wherever there is something for me to do." He paused. "Wherever you want to live."

"And you think I`m sentimental?" I asked. I`d never thought of myself as sentimental, but maybe I was. I knew I missed my home so much it ached.

Eric laughed. "You are sentimental. I was amazed I could get you to leave Bon Temps in the first place."

"Having my freedom threatened will do that to me." I teased, but there was a serious tone in it.

"Really?" Eric said as if this was new information. "I shall remember that."

"Yeah, yeah. You haven`t told me how it all went. What are you going to do in Louisiana?"

I wondered if I could get my old job back at Merlotte`s and then I wasn`t sure I wanted it back. I wasn`t made for staying home eating bonbons, but Merlotte`s wasn`t really what I wanted to do.

"Oh, we have a new queen now. Very tough, but she is fair and just. She offered me my old job back as sheriff." Eric sounded pretty smug.

"What?" I screamed in joy. Eric had loved being a sheriff and I was so pleased for him. "That`s great, Eric. What about Fangtasia? Who is running it now?"

"Hmm, a very old and sexy vampire took over last week." Eric`s smugness came through the phone.

"You got Fangtasia back too? That`s fantastic!" I stopped. "I mean, if that was what you wanted?"

"Indeed it was. My time in Shreveport has been one of the better periods of my life. Of course it improved vastly when a young woman in a white dress showed up with Bill one night."

"Save the seduction until you see me, Sexy-butt…" I laughed.

"This was a new one. I like it… Sexy-butt. Yes, you can call me that as much as you like. And, as you say, preferably to my face. Or butt. Not over the phone." I almost felt his tongue lick my ear through the phone.

"So who looked after Fangtasia in your absence?" It was a change of subjects, but I was not going to discuss Eric`s butt over the phone. Not when I couldn`t grope it and really show him how I felt about it.

Eric laughed as if I had told a great joke. "You will not believe who it was, Lover."

"Who? Felicia? Sandy? Victor?"

"No," Eric snickered. "Bill!"

I was stunned.

"What? Bill looked after Fangtasia?"

"Yes, he said he believed I was not entirely dead and wanted to make sure Fangtasia was in good hands for when I came back."

"Bill said that?" I almost checked the calendar to see if it was April first. "How did he know you were not dead?"

"Apparently he felt you were still alive and he figured that if you were alive, then so was I."

"And he looked after Fangtasia for you?" I still didn`t get this.

"He did. Well, as well as he could. Bill isn`t a businessman like myself." Eric sounded pleased with himself. "But he didn`t do a bad job."

"And Bill is ok? I mean there have been quite a few changes for him."

"Bill has been on Pam`s side ever since I told him we were expecting a child. He wanted you to come back. He has missed you."

"And you are ok with that?" I couldn`t believe how Eric could suddenly be so pleased with Bill.

"Of course, Lover. Bill is allowed to be your friend. He is old fashioned enough to not break up a marriage with a child and I think it will be good for you to have him close to you. And for him. You have taught him how beneficial it is to have good relations with humans."

I remembered how Bill had only come to Bon Temps because it would have been `beneficial` for him to enroll me into Sophie-Anne`s court. "Yes, beneficial indeed," I muttered.

Eric was quiet for a moment.

"Bill has changed because of you. You have a good influence on vampires, Sookie, and I think it will be good for you to be friends with Bill and see it for yourself." Eric was quiet for a while. "Bill wasn`t good to you when you were together. He caused you pain. But if you spend time with him, you will see what a good person you are. You will see how you can change people around you, just by being you."

I was stunned and didn`t know what to say. So I picked humor.

"I have a good influence on vampires?" I teased.

"One vampire was of course perfect even before you met him." I could hear him winking through the phone.

"Is that so?"

"Lover," Eric`s voice was deep and husky now. "Just get on the plane and I will show you just how perfect I can be."

I rolled my eyes. But Pam and I were on the plane with everything I could pack.

Xxxxx

The plane took off at 7pm and landed at 9pm, thanks to the time difference. All kinds of emotions ran through me when I walked off the plane. Happiness over being on Louisiana soil again, joy because I would soon be in Eric`s arms, anticipation about seeing my beloved home again.

But I was also nervous. I had been outside vampire politics for so long. I had been just Sookie and had lived with just Eric. Not the telepath and the sheriff. I had been safe. Well, relatively safe, if one didn`t take run-ins with masters and fairies into account.

And now I was back in the frying pan.

I carried Pam in one hand and a bag in the other and walked towards the airport building when suddenly out of the blue, or black as it was since it was night, Eric was next to us, hugging us and lifting us up in the air.

I screamed in surprise, which had Pam screaming in sympathy and then Eric started to scream in joy. We were a sight, three screaming people seven feet over ground. Soon, though, Eric and I weren`t screaming anymore. You can`t scream when you are kissing.

Xxxxx

"You got yourself a new car?" I asked when I saw the large Volvo Eric was opening the doors to. "What happened to the Corvette?"

"Not enough luggage space," Eric smiled. "And maybe not safe enough. Not now," he pointed at Pam.

"This car won`t be safe enough if you keep going twice the speed limit."

Eric smiled. "If you close your eyes, you can always pretend I`m driving responsibly."

Eric closed the trunk of the car and that was when I saw the license-plate. `VAMPDAD`, it said. I laughed and then I hugged Eric.

"I`ve missed you," I said and kissed him.

"And I`ve missed you."

**Epilogue **

I look at my sweet little five-year-old, sleeping in her bed. She doesn`t know about the dangers she was in even before she was born. We haven`t told her yet.

She is, of course, used to having bodyguards day and night. You are not the daughter of a sheriff and a telepath, not to mention the goddaughter of the Queen of Louisiana, without a bodyguard or two.

I`m not so happy about the bodyguards, but I have come to accept having them around. And Alcide has found some really nice and easy-going guys to follow us around. He even found a female bodyguard or two.

Eric`s and Pam`s cooperation with Alcide and other weres has made Louisiana a prosperous state where vampires and weres work together instead of fighting each other. And not only weres and vampires. Witches have joined the ranks of supes working together. Amelia getting together with Pam may have contributed to it.

Amelia is now `royal witch` which thrills her father to no end. He manages to mention it at all the business meetings he has. I`m just surprised he didn`t put `royal father-in-law` on his business cards.

I never did hear from Niall again. Or from any other fairies, for that matter. And with Claude dead, I had no one to ask about fairy affairs. I did dream about Niall from time to time and in my dreams he was always very smug and pleased with himself. I don`t think he planned on me conceiving when I met human Eric, but if he saw us now, he would probably be proud that he was the reason why I could now look at a blond, little girl with my features and Eric`s sense of mischief.

Niall was not the only one who had been smug around me the last five years. The night I came home from Norway, Eric did something for me that gave him reason to be smug for years. When I came home to Bon Temps, he had managed to gather everyone who meant something to me in my house and he had even asked the non-vampires to make a lovely Christmas dinner for us all.

Amelia and Pamela had come from New Orleans, Steinngrim and Sjur had not yet left for Norway, Sam, Tara and JB du Rhone were there and so was Jason. Even Calvin Norris had come in from Hot Shot. Alcide was there too along with the guys who were to be my bodyguards. Thalia, Felicia and Indira were sipping their True Bloods and so was Bill.

I got warm hugs from Sam, Tara, Amelia and Alcide. And from Bill who said `thank you` and I wasn`t sure what he was thanking me for. Jason started on a lecture about how sad he had been to have lost me and how could I do that to him, but he was effectively stopped by Pamela.

Pamela declared that a combined wedding between her sheriff of area 5 and her royal telepath, and a baptism for her goddaughter, was set for January 6th. I noticed that Eric looked as surprised as me and shouted over the cheering.

"You can`t just do that, Pamela!"

"Yes, I can Sookie. It seems to be my role to push the two of you closer together and now I decide you get married."

It must have been the time differences or lack of sleep because I got so mad at Pamela, I almost fumed.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" I screamed.

Pamela just smiled and came over to me.

"You shouldn`t swear in front of your child. The books I`ve read on the subject strongly suggest that you don`t."

"You`ve read books about how to bring up children?" I huffed.

"Of course. I have a little sister to take care of now." She looked at Pam who decided now was the moment to give away her first smile. Pamela grew an inch in pride and beamed without taking her eyes from Pam. "See? I have a way with children."

Any mother`s heart melts when people treat their children with love, so my anger vaporized. And then I knew why I had a sudden mood change. Eric stood next to me and I was pretty sure I was getting his emotions too. Eric was not angry about Pamela`s declaration about our wedding. He was happy.

I looked at him. "January 6th, huh?" I said.

"As good a day as any, Lover." And then he kissed me.

Champagne was brought out and the Christmas party became one of the happiest evenings of my life. Eric had good reason to be smug about that perfect night, even if Pam had surprised him too.

Xxxx

But last night it had been my turn to be smug. I had managed to keep a secret from Eric for so long and last night, on our 5th anniversary, was the night I finally showed Eric my surprise.

I brought him out to the place I had spent so many days the last year. Days when Eric slept and didn`t know what was going on.

In cooperation with Pamela, who was a clever queen and a shrewd businesswoman, I had built a perfect copy of Eric`s village back in the Viking age. I had invited many of the people I had taught old Norse to and the ones Eric had taught sword-fighting to over to live in Louisiana and to work in the village as `people from the Viking age`.

The village was meant to be a place for school classes and tourists to come and get a view of how the Vikings lived. The cold climate couldn`t be copied, but everything else was perfect down to the smallest detail. Even professors and scholars in the Viking age had praised our precision in portraying that period of time.

Yesterday was the first time Eric got to see it. I was both nervous and very excited. I had worked hard to keep it a secret, which was almost impossible with the amount of informers Eric kept in his retinue. But I had managed because everyone loved the idea of the Sheriff being surprised for once in his life.

I put a scarf over his eyes, which of course led him to make a remark on how he would have preferred to be home in our bed if we were to play sexual games like this. Then I took his hand and walked him through the village until we were outside the door to a copy of the house Eric had lived in.

I pulled off the scarf and smiled when I saw his shock and heard his gasp.

First he was speechless. After a few minutes he found his voice somewhere.

"You did this for me? You made my old village?"

"Yes, Eric. Well, not just for you, but for you too."

He smiled and gave me a kiss. "This was very beautiful, Sookie. You know I`m not sentimental, but this was perfect."

I gave him a very warm hug.

"I know you`re not sentimental, but I am." I said with a smile and I couldn`t hide my own smugness. "I`ve missed seeing that sexy body of yours, dressed in only leather pants, fighting with the sword in a Holmgang."

Eric waggled his eyebrows. "You have, have you?"

I nodded.

"You know, I would be happy to give you private shows any time you want."

"Is that so?" I smiled.

"Oh yes. And I could even lose the leather pants. I wouldn`t want you to miss out on seeing my sexy butt."

**The end**

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**A/N:**

Someone give me a handkerchief. I need to cry a little. It has been so much fun to write this story and now it`s over.

I hope you have enjoyed the ride and that you liked the story!

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**National anthems**

I want to finish this story with pomp and circumstance and what better way than to sing the national anthems? I found translations for them too and they even fit the melody – so stand up and sing :-D

**The Danish national anthem: (www . youtube. com/watch?v=8EViJFvDc-I)**

Der er et Yndigt Land

Der er et yndigt land,

Det står med brede bøge

Nær salten østerstrand; nær salten østerstrand

Det bugter sig i bakke, dal,

Det hedder gamle Danmark,

Og det er Frejas sal. Og det er Frejas sal.

**English Translation**

A Lovely Land is Ours

A lovely land is ours

With beeches green about her

Encircled by the sea; encircled by the sea

Her hills and vales are manifold

Her name, of old, is Denmark

And she is Freya's home. And she is Freya's home

**Sweden (www . youtube . com/watch?v=qaNZGUW6eVU)**

Du Gamla Du Fria

Du gamla, Du fria, Du fjällhöga nord  
Du tysta, Du glädjerika sköna!  
Jag hälsar Dig, vänaste land uppå jord,  
/: Din sol, Din himmel, Dina ängder gröna. :/

Du tronar på minnen från fornstora dar,  
då ärat Ditt namn flög över jorden.  
Jag vet att Du är och Du blir vad du var.  
/: Ja, jag vill leva jag vill dö i Norden. :/

**English translation:**

Ye free, ancient country

Ye free, ancient country , Ye high mountained north  
Ye silent and joyous, delightful  
We greet you as loveliest land upon earth  
/:Your shining sun, your sky Your pastures green :/

You rest on your memories of days great and past  
When all round the world your name was honoured  
I know that you'll always remain the way you were  
/:In my own Nordic land I'll live forever:/

**Norway (www . youtube . com/watch?v=LUtiIMZIVOU)**

Ja, Vi Elsker Dette Landet

Ja, vi elsker dette landet,  
som det stiger frem,  
furet, værbitt, over vannet,  
med de tusen hjem.  
Elsker, elsker det og tenker  
på vår far og mor  
og den saganatt som senker  
drømmer på vår jord.  
og den saganatt som senker,  
senker drømmer på vår jord.

**English translation:**

Yes, we love this country

Yes, we love with fond devotion

This our land that looms

Rugged, storm-scared o'er the ocean,

With her thousand homes.

Love her, in our love recalling

Those who gave us birth.

And the saga night, in falling

Bring as dreams to earth.

And the saga night, in falling

Bring as dreams to earth.


End file.
